


The Amortentia Principle

by rubywallace25



Series: Messrs Padfoot and Moony Are Proud to Present a Series of Romanic Disasters [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:27:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 37,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26999671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rubywallace25/pseuds/rubywallace25
Summary: It's Year Six.Wolfstar is a thing.Part of a series, but can be read stand alone.
Relationships: Amycus Carrow/Original Male Character(s), Frank Longbottom/Dorcas Meadowes, Frank Longbottom/Original Female Character(s), James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Marlene McKinnon/Original Female Character(s), Mary Macdonald/Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: Messrs Padfoot and Moony Are Proud to Present a Series of Romanic Disasters [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1873549
Comments: 161
Kudos: 191





	1. Sirius Black's Future Wife

Remus John Lupin would be lying to himself if he didn't admit that he had been counting down the days until the 1st September.

He feels a pang of guilt towards his parents, but that particular knot in his stomach is soothed by the prospect of seeing his friends again.

James and Sirius and Peter, but especially Sirius.

They've been writing to each other practically every day, even when there was nothing to say beyond 'I love you hopelessly, you ridiculous melon'.

Although Sirius had found it much easier to put his terms of endearments into words than Remus, who is still struggling to emotionally articulate everything that he feels.

"Right then cariad."

Mum says breathlessly as they finally load the last pieces of his luggage onto the trolley, which consists of his Dad's old school trunk and a wicker basket for his snowy white kitten, the ridiculously named, Madam Emma Bovary.

The basket is a gift from Mary Macdonald, Peter's gorgeous girlfriend and a fellow 6th year Gryffindor student, who Remus and his family have spent the summer renting a cottage from.

He's not very good at excepting gifts, but Mary is also not the sort of girl that you can easily say no to without feeling like the 'world's worst cad' so he took the basket without complaint.

It's just Remus and his Mum today making the journey to platform nine and three quarters, as Dad is staying at the cottage to finish packing everything up before he and Mum move on again.

They pause a little ahead of the barrier between platforms and watch as an excitable looking first year gingerly steps through with her parents on either side.

"It doesn't seem like that long again that you were so small."

Mum says as she smoothes her hand through Remus' hair.

Surely he was never so small.

Mum looks tearful, she has never been good when it comes to seeing him off for another school year.

He pats the top of her hand, and says in the hopes of distracting her.

"Shall we take a run at it?"

Mum's eyes sparkle as she nods.

Madam Emma Bovay mews her soft pink and determined mew.

The Lupins make a run for it.

Sirius distractedly glances over at the barrier as Flea tells another joke that leaves James and Effie doubled over in laughter.

His chest feels tight as he forces a smile upon his face.

He can't do patience.

He can't do inactivity.

He always has to be doing something, anything, just to feel useful.

To stop himself from thinking.

But he can't.

He can't stop thinking about Remus.

He hasn't been able to stop thinking about Remus J Lupin since they had parted at the end of July.

One whole month and a full moon of being apart and Sirius is about ready to start tearing out clumps of his perfect and much beloved hair.

He wonders what sort of state to expect Remus in and how rough the full moon had been on him.

"I haven't seen them, Sirius dear."

The sound of Effie's voice brings Sirius back onto the bustle of the platform.

He's almost certain that she means his parents and brother Regulus, and not Remus, so he plays along rocking on his heels and digging his hands deep into his pockets as he pretends not to care.

When he's with The Potters the subject of his biological family hardly ever comes up, but when it does, usually in the form of a rebuke in regards to his parents style of parenting, it only serves to remind him of his actual status in James' house as a much beloved guest.

He doesn't belong to The Potters, he's not really their son, but he would like to belong to someone, some day.

At that moment Remus and his Mum run though the barrier, laughing.

"Moony's here."

He tells James trying to be as casual as he can be when his heart is threatening to explode.

"Moony over here!"

James bellows excitedly at the sight of their friend.

"Do I even want to know how your friend got his nickname?"

Flea asks.

Sirius and James share a knowing and mischievous look.

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you, Dad."

James chuckles as he slaps his Dad across his shoulders.

They're the same height, but Sirius is taller than both of them, all three of them if Effie is included.

Remus wheels his trolley in their direction, his cheeks are flushed and he still wears a smile.

He stops next to Sirius with his Mum standing on his other side.

They smile briefly at one another, before attempting to look casual and not devastatingly in love with one another.

It's oddly easy.

"Ah Mr Lupin, so good to see you again."

Flea reaches out and shakes Remus' hand enthusiastically.

"This one hasn't stopped going on about you."

He elbows James playfully in the ribs.

"I have not."

James rolls his hazel eyes from behind his glasses.

"Thank you Sir, it's very good to see you."

Remus replies, and Sirius notes the blush that is creeping up from his neck.

"And this must be your Mother? Mrs Lupin, allow me to convey how grateful Effie and I are that you allowed the boys to stay with you over the summer they had a wonderful time."

Sirius watches with a smirk as Remus' Mum is taken completely unawares by Flea's charm assult the finishing touch of which is to take her hand and kiss it.

She titters nervously, and Sirius notes that Remus resembles his Mum when he's embarrassed.

"Now Flea, leave the poor girl alone."

Effie scolds her husband in a voice that is filled with laughter.

While Sirius is not sure that Mrs Lupin falls into the category of girl anymore, she definitely looks like one when compared to The Potters, who despite their buoyant personalities, are both elderly and iron grey.

"I'm Euphemia, most people call me Effie, and I am responsible for these..."

The rest of Effie's sentence is drowned out by the feeling of a sharp tug on the back of Sirius' shirt.

He turns expecting to see Wormtail behind him but is met instead by Kreacher who stares up at him with watery eyes.

"My mistress bids me to give you your gold."

The house elf croaks as he holds out a large money bag before him.

His Mother must be here.

Sirius scans the crowd of mustard, scarlet, navy and emerald.

His eyes widen as he spots her, his Mother, she has her back turned and is deep in conversation with a woman who he recognises as the Mother of his betrothed, Alecto Carrow.

He's seen Alecto already, and as they'd passed one another on the platform she had stuck out her tongue at him.

Oh what wedded bliss he has to look forward to with the future Mrs Black.

Regulus is also there standing off to one side trying to appear interested but failing.

The house elf clears his throat and on autopilot Sirius takes his bag of gold.

"My mistress bids me to tell you that if you require more gold, then you are to send an owl, you are prohibited from bringing shame on the Black family name by borrowing money from Blood Traitors,"

Kreacher's large watery gaze shifts from Sirius to The Potters.

"...or scum."

He concludes with a glance at Remus.

He avoids looking at Remus' Mum at all.

Sirius is just about to land a kick right up Kreacher's bony arse, when he feels an arm hold him back.

"Yes well you can thank your Mistress, and inform her that Sirius will never want for gold or affection, while we blood traitors and scum are around to look after him."

Effie says snatching the gold money bag from Sirius' grip and handing it right back to the house elf, whose eyes practically bulge out of his bulbous and gnarled head.

"And you can also tell her that the next time she refers to either my husband or son as blood traitors she should take out her wand."

Kreacher looks aghast and shuffles off with the bag of gold clutched tightly in his hands.

"Mum that was amazing!"

James explodes with pride.

"That felt wonderful."

Effie grins, while James and Flea openly laugh, and Mrs Lupin smiles uncomfortably.

Sirius reaches for Remus' hand and they stand together holding hands while the rest of the world laughs and swirls around them.


	2. Remus Lupin. Cat Person.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus Lupin owns a cat.  
> Lots of characters are introduced.  
> Benji Fenwick is deaf.

"You we're cutting it a bit fine back there mate."

James observes, after having just managed to haul Peter onto the train before they had departed the station.

"I over slept."

Peter manages to pant out.

Before adding in a lower tone of voice as the four of them wave goodbye to The Potters and Remus' Mum.

"I had to Wormtail it most of the way."

The image of a large brown rat scuttling across London in a desperate bid not to miss his train suddenly pops into Remus' mind.

"Where's your Mum, I feel a bit funny without getting my dose of Mrs Pettigrew at the start of the term."

James muses.

The four of them begin to make their way down the train's narrow corridor towards the Gryffindor carriage.

James and Peter and Sirius with Remus bringing up the rear and holding tightly onto Madam Emma Bovary's wicker basket.

"Tom's got her working double shifts,"

Peter's Mother, Mrs Pettigrew is employed as a barmaid at The Leaky Cauldron.

"...she made these for us, for the journey."

He quickly adds pulls from his pocket four neatly wrapped packets of what looks like cinder toffee.

"Excellent Wormy, I love your Ma's cooking."

Sirius exclaims slapping his hands together in excitement as Peter in turn hands them each a packet.

When it comes to Remus who has his hands full Sirius quickly interjects.

"I'll hold onto Moony's."

Sirius gives him a cheeky wink and Remus doubts that he will ever see his packet of toffee again.

"This one's empty."

James observes as he drags back the door on one of the compartments and the four slip inside.

James and Sirius throw themselves into the vacant window seats, their usual spots.

"Who wants a game of exploding snap?"

Sirius' asks as he rips open one of Mrs Pettigrew's gift bags and tosses a slab of toffee into his grinning mouth.

"I can't."

Remus says before things get too comfortable, and watches as Sirius' naturally perfectly shaped eyebrows rise to the top of his head in a look of surprise.

"I have to go and sit in the prefect's compartment."

"Not this again."

Sirius whines.

"Nothing has been the same since you got that bloody badge."

James chimes in.

"You've changed."

Peter adds.

Remus has heard this particularly tongue in cheek banter so many times before that it no longer effects him the way it did when he was first given the Gryffindor prefect badge.

"Pads, can you look after Emma?"

Remus asks as he settles Madam Emma Bovary's basket in the seat next to Sirius, who regards the item mid chew.

Positioned opposite Peter, the snowy white kitten immediately begins to hiss and spit.

"That bloody thing hates me."

Peter exclaims with a panicked expression.

"Relax, she can probably still smell the rat on you."

James says trying to soothe his friend.

Sirius appears to ignore the pair of them and the kitten as he languidly gets up from his seat and makes his way towards Remus.

Remus feels his mouth instantly go dry.

"And what do I get for babysitting Madam Hell Bitch?"

"I wish you wouldn't call her that."

"I wish you wouldn't desert me,"

"Us!"

James calls out.

"...for Evans and your prefect pals."

Even as he says it Sirius is wrapping his arms around Remus' neck.

Manipulative to the extreme, Remus pulls Sirius into their first kiss in weeks.

Despite how much thoughts of kissing his 'rubbish boyfriend' has occupied his thoughts Remus doesn't put as much effort into the kiss due to the fact that he can feel both James and Peter staring at them.

"That was awful."

Sirius observes once the kissing stops.

"I want better kisses later."

He grins, and plants the ghost of a kiss on Remus' cheek.

Remus manages to duck under the loop of Sirius' arms.

"I'll think about it."

Remus says before beating a hasty rretreat out of the compartment, glad that he didn't mention the special lead and harness that he's purchased for the 'Hell Bitch'.

When Remus finds the prefect compartment in the middle of the train sandwiched between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw carriages he finds it full.

He also sees a number of new faces replacing the graduated Ravenclaw and Slytherin prefects.

With 5th years Dirk Cresswell and Remus' former girlfriend Amy Floss (for Ravenclaw), and Regulus Black and a sallow faced Slytherin girl that he doesn't know the name of, for Slytherin.

Of course Regulus is the new Slytherin prefect, and of course Remus will end up sharing a compartment with him rather that his brother.

"I saved you a seat."

Lily says, as she pats the only vacant seat in the compartment, which is sandwiched between her and Amy, Amy who he hasn't seen since his disastrous fifteenth birthday party.

He settles between the two girls, and finds himself seated opposite the Hufflepuff prefects Clemency Wong and Benjy Fenwick who are both wearing gleaming head girl and boy badges.

"Congratulations Clemency."

Remus congratulates the pretty, raven haired girl, who he'd spent a week with during the summer, and who is Marlene McKinnon's girlfriend.

"Thank you, I'm not sure whose prouder Marly or I."

Clemency grins back.

No sooner have the words left his mouth than Remus realises that he should probably say something to Amy, who has her face buried between the pages of a Muggle fashion magazine.

Amy is the exact opposite to Sirius, dark skinned and curvaceous, who everyone assumes is Muggleborn due to her having been adopted by Muggles, however in Remus' mind since no-one knows who her biological parents really are she could easily be the heir to some extinct branch of a Pure Blood family.

Not that any of that matters, in his opinion blood status are an arcane preoccupation, which is destroying the wizarding world.

Besides it was her blood status wasn't what attracted him in the first place it was her hair.

Wait hang on did he just think that...

He's eyes widen as he realises that he's openly staring at her.

Before he has the chance to engage his brain into forming recognizable words he feels a tap on his knees and turns to find Benji Fenwick smiling at him.

Benji has short cropped ginger hair, a face full of freckles and is profoundly deaf.

"Aren't you going to ask how my summer was?"

Remus watches with interest as Benji uses his wand to float a cloud of words above his head, he is without a doubt brilliant in the art of non-verbal spells.

He remembers to look at Benji when he speaks so that the other boy can read his lips.

"How was your summer?"

Benji's face splits into a wide smile as a bubble of words beginning to form with his reply when the bubble is dramatically popped by the entire train being violently rocked.

They all scream over the sound of ripping metal, and it feels as if the train is being pulled apart.

Remus feels his heart jump into his mouth as Amy's grip tightens painfully on his arm.

The lights in the compartment flicker, but there is still enough light outside for them to be able to see.

"The train has stopped."

Lily says, her throat constricted with fear her face pale and terrified.

Remus pulls his wand from his pocket and grips it hard.

For the longest time none of the react, they're all too dazed, but a speech bubble appears over Benji's head.

"We should check on our houses."

Benji is of course right, this after all is what they are here for.

Lily is the first up and out of her seat and as she slides back the door to their compartment the noise in the rest of the train washes over them as some students cry, while others call out for friends.

Remus' thoughts instantly rushes to Sirius, James and Peter as he follows Lily out into the corridor, which is filled with students peering through the windows.

"Go back to your compartments,"

Clemency says.

"Any student not in their compartment will have house points deducted."

She concludes with a resolute stare, and it's enough to send most of the students fleeing.

Remus and Lily make slow progress through the Gryffindor carriage checking on each student until finally they reach the compartment containing Sirius, James and Peter and he feel as if he can breathe again.

He thrusts back the door and finds only a startled looking Peter and Mary Macdonald blinking back at him.

"Where are Padfoot and Prongs!"

He asks in a high desperate voice, as a cool breeze suddenly whips across his face.

"Remus."

He feels Lily tug at the sleeve of his jumper, but he ignores her, the sight of Sirius' and James' empty seats sending panic coursing through his body.

"The last time I saw them they were going off to annoy Alice Fortescue."

Peter informs him in a shaky voice his eyes bulging.

Alice Fortescue had been the Gryffindor Head Girl the previous year and had since leaving Hogwarts embarked on her childhood dream of joining the Auror office.

But why is Alice and Auror on the Hogwarts Express at all?

"Remus!"

Lily distracts him from his question by pulling even harder on his sleeve, with an expression of annoyance he turns to face her and finds that she is staring past him.

Out in the corridor the wind is particularly strong becoming almost a gale....

And then...

He turns his head to look at whatever Lily is staring at so intently.

The train is gone.

The portion of the train containing the engine has been brutally torn apart.

It's gone.

Sirius...


	3. Meanwhile In The Other Carriage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And we've gone back in time.

Alice Fortescue falls gingerly into her office chair, her head is still pounding and she feels fifty shades of green.

She's not entirely sure, but she's pretty certain that she's still drunk from the night before.

She holds her hand over her mouth and smells her breath, which to put it bluntly 'stinks to high heaven'.

Alice pulls open her desk drawer and produces a packet of Muggle mints, quickly popping one into her mouth just as Kingsley Shacklebolt settles himself into the desk opposite her.

Kingsley flashes her a smile, and to her horror she sees that he looks as bright as a button with no ill effects from the night before, when The Auror Office decided to celebrate the arrest of several high ranking and notorious Death Eaters by getting completely rat arsed in The Leaky Cauldron.

It had been Kingsley suggestion that after they'd finished at The Leaky Cauldron they should hit a Muggle disco in Camden.

And that had been her ultimate undoing, and had led to her waking up next to some strange Muggle, in some strange flat, in a part of London that she'd hadn't known.

Due to the fact that she had still been feeling the after effects of her night of debauchery Alice had not been brave enough to apparate to The Ministry so instead she'd been forced to take the tube, and here she was.

"No need to ask if you had a good evening, Alice."

Kingsley grins at her, his eyes glittering with mischief.

It's then that she realises that she is still wearing the same robes from the night before.

A scarlet blush colours her cheeks, which causes Kingsley to openly laugh and lean back in his chair.

"Relax Fortescue, it's nice to know that you're human after all."

"Shacklebolt, Fortescue, this is not a social club."

The sound of Alistor Moody's gruff voice causes Kingsley's chair to immediately snap straight taking the wizard by surprise. 

"And since you both look so bright,

Alice cringes.

"...you won't mind accompanying me this morning."

"We're to?"

Kingsley asks with interest.

Moody lowers his voice.

"We're going back to school."

"Well that was disappointing."

Sirius observes as he throws himself back into his seat, to find James busily sketching Quidditch position on a piece of parchment, while Peter is eyeing Remus' cat nervously.

"What do you think of Summers for Seeker this year?"

James asks.

Sirius ignores him staring into the seat, which should be occupied by his 'rubbish boyfriend' Remus but is instead occupied by Madam Emma Bovary's travelling basket.

He's disappointed, it's been a month, a whole month of not seeing Remus Lupin's stupid face and he's missed him.

"Pads, stop being a drip and focus on what really matters,"

"I'm hungry."

Peter interrupts James.

"Haven't you just eaten a massive bag of toffee?"

Peter looks sheepish under the weight of James' question.

"Yes, but I didn't have any breakfast."

Sirius and James exchange a knowing glance.

"Calm down Orca, the trolley should be along in a moment."

Sirius throws back his head and barks with laughter.

As if on que the door to their compartment rolls back, and Sirius glances up expecting to see the elderly witch who pushes the food trolley up and down the corridor of the train, but instead he sees the smiling face of Mary Macdonald.

Mary Macdonald is a golden haired, 6th year Gryffindor, who resembles a Muggle magazine model, and is undoubtedly the most beautiful girl at Hogwarts, she also happens rather unbelievably to be Peter's girlfriend.

"Hello boys."

She greets them with a wide sparkling smile.

Sirius gaze drifts from Mary to Peter and he can tell that the little traitor has encouraged her to join them.

"No."

He says shifting in his seat.

"No girlfriends."

Sirius clarifies.

Peter's face falls.

"That's not fair!"

He exclaims his small grey eyes going suddenly wide at the injustice.

"That's a bit harsh, Pads."

James agrees, but only because he has an agenda, which revolves around his Lily Evans shaped fantasies. 

Mary gives him a plaintive look, and with James and Peter both ganging up on him he does start to think that perhaps he is being a little more draconian than usual.

"Alright,"

Sirius Black folds like soggy cardboard.

Mary gives a squeal of delight, which causes him to add a caveat.

"...but only if you pretend to be Moony."

Mary immediately tugs down the sleeves of her jumper over her hands and slumps into her seat.

She then pulls out an invisible and imaginary book from her pocket and huffs behind it.

After a few moments of pretending to read she glances over the top of her imaginary book and says.

"Why must I suffer the indignity of being a teenager."

Laughter immediately erupts inside the compartment, and James almost falls out of his seat.

Sirius is laughing so much that he has to wipe tears from his eyes.

"You're a brilliant Moony, Mary."

James congratulates her breathlessly.

Peter reaches out catches Mary by the arm and drags her out of her seat and onto his lap where the pair start snogging.

"Oi, that's my boyfriend you've you're got your lips all over!"

Sirius playfully exclaims, but his words fall on dead ears.

With a sigh James turns back to his piece of parchment.

"So, what do you think of Summers for Seeker?"


	4. Intercontinental Ballistic Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This begins with an extract from the letters that Padfoot and Moony have written to each other over the summer.

My Dear Moony,

Your suggestion about our 'unrealistic dream' of letting the Giant Squid into the school to reek mayhem in favour of something smaller and more explosive has been noted.

And James has asked me to ask you exactly what you mean by 'smaller and more explosive', so please in your next reply give some more detail and costings.

I still like the giant squid plan myself, but I am willing to be swayed by my 'rubbish boyfriend' and his 'smaller and more explosive' ideas.

In you last letter you asked about the weather...

It's still raining.

The plus side of this is that we finally found that secret passage that Prongs has been going on about for years.

The minuses are as follows:

No secret stash of Goblin Gold.

Cobwebs in my hair.

The secret passage being just a long forgotten corridor that leads absolutely nowhere.

Are you missing me?

Also I love you.

Yours sincerely 

Mr Padfoot.

PS. Please find mildly erotic drawing attached.

Dearest Mr Padfoot,

Firstly allow me to begin this missive by taking a moment to applaud your artistic skills.

Upside down, yes, that's exactly what it would look like, congratulations.

Now onto the main subject of my letter, have you my 'rubbish boyfriend' ever heard of something called an 'intercontinental ballistic'?

Please find attached costings for said item, and I have also accounted for potential time spent in detention and or prison, depending on how things turn out.

Do you think that they'd let us share a cell in Azkaban?

It's still really sunny here, it must just be raining in your part of Surrey, perhaps directly over The Potter's house?

It's good to know that Prongs has finally achieved his goal, I can't put into words how happy I am that you found that dusty corridor.

I was missing you a bit yesterday, but then I found 50p in my jeans pocket and that cheered me right up.

I know!

Yours in health and sickness,

Moony.

PS. How's the weather?

Sirius just can't settle.

He's tired of watching Peter and Mary snog, while James goes on and on and on about Quidditch position for this year's Gryffindor team.

Ordinarily there is nothing Sirius likes more than Quidditch, but he's just not interested, all he can think about is Remus, who is probably having a much better time in the 'prefects carriage'.

The only possible upside of Remus being a prefect is that he has promised to take Sirius on a tour of the fabled 'prefects bathroom', which he intends to hold him to.

Sirius is slumped in his seat when he catches sight of a familiar figure.

"Alice!"

He exclaims sitting bolt upright and pointing.

Alice Fortescue former Gryffindor Head Girl is Sirius' favourite person to torture after his parents, Kreacher, Snape, occasionally Regulus, and always the devine Professor Mcgonnigal.

"Are you seeing things, again?"

James asks.

"No. I just saw her, she was right there, she just walked passed the window."

He gestures wildly towards the compartment's windows, but it's all to late as the spectre of Alice quickly passes by.

James gives him a rare and doubtful look.

"I wonder if she failed her N.E.W.T.s?"

Peter says, finally coming up for air.

"That can't be right, I thought she was a Auror now."

Mary observes, from where she sits on Peter's lap with him arms draped around his neck.

"I must go to her."

Sirius exclaims dramatically, as he heads for the door, throwing it back with wide eyed relish at the sight of Alice's retreating back.

"Bloody hell, Alice is on the train!"

James observes as his head pops up under Sirius'.

Their eyes meet.

"Wormy, come on."

James turns to Peter.

Clearly torn between spending time with his friends or his girlfriend, Peter shrinks back a little and says in a strained voice.

"I think I might just stay here."

Alice has been bracing herself from the moment she had set foot on the Hogwarts Express.

Her orders are clear, she is the one who will make the journey on the train to the school while Moody and Kingsley wait at opposite ends, one in London and the other in Hogsmeade.

It feels strange, as if she's going back to school, but that she's forgotten her uniform, her trunk and her toad, Norman.

Alice feels like a different person from the naive girl who had boarded the train the previous year, who had still worn her hair in pigtails, she's a woman now who has battled Death Eaters and who wakes up in the beds of Muggles she's met only the night before.

She's an Auror and...

"Alice!"

That voice, the unmistakable voice of Sirius Bloody Black.

Inwardly she cringes. 

Bring her a dark wizard, bring her an insane witch, anything, but spare her from the onslaught of James Potter and his lap dog Sirius Black.

She makes the mistake of turning to face them, and watches with horror as the pair gleefully charge up the corridor towards her.

"Fortescue!"

James greets her with a smile of mischief, which causes her stomach to roll over.

"Potter, Black."

She says with an exasperated huff, her voice cracking slightly as the train rocks and she's forced to steady herself.

She's on rocky ground already.

"Why are you on the train?"

James asks her, as if he considers her to be his equal and not the adult that she is.

That's the real problem they have never respected her or her authority over them, because to put it bluntly James Potter and Sirius Black don't respect anything or anyone.

"Is it true that you failed your N.E.W.T.s?"

Sirius asks with a grin.

"No, of course not, I'm an Auror!"

Alice makes another mistake of biting on the hook.

They laugh at her.

"Are those Auror robes then?"

James chuckles out his words.

She glances down at brown trench coat, the uniform of the Auror Office.

Alice opens her mouth, but her voice is stolen as the corridor the three of them are standing in shakes violently.

The windows rattle in their frames and there is the ear splitting sound of metal screaming.

She makes a move for her wand, but as the train begins to disintegrate around her she loses her grip on the handle.

"Prongs!"

"Padfoot!"

She hears the two boys shout, before everything goes black.


	5. Bad Habbits

"That's a bad habit."

Amycus Carrow says as he finishes knotting the long black silk tie at his neck.

He pretends to study his reflection in the full length wardrobe mirror, but what he's actually doing is watching the man who sits in the bed behind him smoking.

"I think living long enough to develop cancer is a bit of a pipe dream."

Rory McKinnon observes through a plume of grey tinged smoke.

Ordinarily Amycus would laugh a comment like this off, but there's too much truth in it now, especially today.

He feels sick.

"Always so negative, McKinnon."

Amycus says with a half laugh, trying to keep any hint of doubt or trepidation from his voice.

He slicks back his hair, and them studies his own reflection, but his eyes drift back to Rory.

He turns his back on his reflection and settles himself on the bed pulling the Muggle cigarette from Rory's mouth and slipping it between his own lips.

If the Dark Lord could see him now, he exhales, his eyes finding the ring of bruises that circle Rory's pale throat, his finger prints.

Amycus ducks his head and plants a kiss on one of the bruises and watches with satisfaction as Rory's adam's apple bob.

The ash from the tip of the cigarettes sheds across the bedspread as Amycus pulls back.

"Are you going to work today?"

He asks, as he takes another drag.

Rory shrugs.

That's a no then.

He rests his hand over the beat of Rory's heart.

"Everything must appear normal."

Amycus tries to press his words in Rory's bare flesh, hoping that they will somehow stick.

"Rory."

Rory's large dark eyes widen, because he hardly ever uses his first name, he's always called him McKinnon, always.

He doesn't know what to say next, so instead he buries all of his uncertainty in the warmth of Rory's lips.

Amycus kisses him as if it's the last time that he will ever sees him, perhaps it is.

He pulls back, breathing hard and running one hand through his slick hair.

"I'll go."

Rory volunteers without pressure for once.

For once.

For once.

Amycus stands up tugging his waistcoat back into place as he moves.

He runs one hand through Rory's dark hair.

"If any Aurors come looking for me, you know what to say."

Amycus then apperates out of the bedroom to find himself standing on a wind blasted railway cutting.

The train is there, at least the part of the Hogwarts Express that the Dark Lord wants is there, laid out before him.

It becomes immediately apparent however that all is not as it should be as McNair hurries towards him looking pensive.

The muscles in Amycus' jawline tighten.

"You're looking a little tense, McNair."

He observes trying to sound older than his nineteen poultry years.

His stomach drops at McNair's reply.

Sirius ears are ringing.

Sirius' ears are ringing as he opens his eyes.

There's a patch of grey sky above him where there should be the roof of a carriage.

He feels lopsided.

The pain kicks in like an after thought, and he feels as if he's been hit by a bludger, two bludgers, all of the bludgers.

The last thing he remembers...

What is the last thing he remembers?

"Prongs!"

Sirius sits bolt up right, which is a mistake, since pain suddenly roars through his body.

In a daze, his gaze shifts, as he brain tries to adjust to the wreckage that surrounds him.

Where the rest of the train should be he can see the high bank of a railway cutting, as the wind blows through his hair.

Sirius glances down at his body and finds himself surprisingly in tacked, he still has two arms and two legs.

His fingers loop around a handrail and drags himself up onto his feet, the pain fading as he moves.

His gaze falls upon James who is lying motionless across the gravel of the train track next to Alice.

Sirius limps towards the pair, as he finds it hard to put any weight on his right foot.

He drops to his knees next to his best friend, whose face is pale and his forehead streaked with blood.

"Prongs."

Sirius croaks out James' name his fingers tightening on the fabric of his shirt.

His heart skips a beat until James finally opens his eyes, his glasses at an angle.

"Padfoot."

James whispers weakly.

"What, what happened?"

He asks, as Sirius pulls him into a sitting position.

Sirius takes in the sight of the angry cut on James' forehead.

"Are you alright?"

He asks quickly, ignoring James' question.

Adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose James fixes with with a toothy grin.

The sound of a faint groan causes Sirius to take his eyes from James and instead focus on Alice who shudders next to them breathing hard and bleeding.

They all look singed as if they have escaped a fire, but Sirius can't remember a fire or anything else for that matter, just darkness.

He watches as Alice pulls herself up onto her knees and from there as she wordlessly gets up and wanders away wand in hand, her hair bedraggled and her trench coat torn in places.

Alice waves he wand and the silvery outline of a something that looks very much like a red squirrel explodes from the tip.

"That's a patronus."

James observes with interest.

They overhear Alice addressing the silvery squirrel who gazes back at her attentively.

"Go to Hogsmeade station and find Moody tell him what has happened, tell him that the engine is still safe."

The engine, the boys eyes meet and they share a look of interest.

Heavy with the burden of it's orders the small red squirrel patronus quickly skips away out of sight.

Alice lowers her wand as her head briefly, limply rests against her chest.

And then she recovers herself and marches passed them and back into what if left of the front of the Hogwarts Express.

From where there is a cry of surprise, and Sirius reaches for his wand, as a moment later Frank Longbottom and Dorcus Meadowes pick their way out of the wreckage, emerging battered and bloody.

"Frank! Dorcus!"

James exclaims in innocent surprise at the pair, however by the loves bites that are clearly visible on Frank's neck speak volumes to what the pair have been doing in the quieter part of the train.

Sirius thinks of Remus then, which makes him feel like a really 'rubbish boyfriend' since he hadn't given his actual boyfriend a thought before.

The rest of the train, the part that contains Remus and Peter and all their other friends is missing, which Sirius hopes can only be a good thing.

It has to be a good thing, because he's not sure what he will do if anything has happened to Remus.

The sound of Dorcus' scream causes Sirius' head to whip in her direction, and his vision swims for a moment as he watches Frank fall face forward into the gravel in the thrall of a full body bind.

"Protego."

Dorcus lifts her wand and manages to block a curse.

A jet of red light burns through the gravel at Sirius' feet and it takes him a moment to realise that they are being attacked.

Desperately he scans the horizon line and then he sees them a group of Death Eaters dressed in black robes all wearing silver masks, actual Death Eaters, actual Death Eaters who appear to be using them as target practice.

"Protego!"

James shields them from another curse.

"Potter, Black, Meadowes, move!"

Alice shouts from the relative safety of the wreckage.

She grabs the fabric of Frank's jumper and hauls him in after her as Dorcus hurries behind them.

It's just Sirius and James now, and ignoring the pain in his ankle he runs to keep up with his best friend as they dive into what's left of the train.

The skirmish that ensues then is brief and violent as the train's damaged exterior is battered by a dozen or so curses, each trying to make there way inside.

Alice ducks into viewing firing off a few curses of her own, as Sirius, James and Dorcus all do the same.

"Stupefy!"

Sirius sends a spell blindly out into the world in the Hope's of hitting something, anything.

A flash of green streaks past him, as he narrowly avoids the killing curse.

"Don't be a fool!"

Amycus knocks the wand out of McNair's hand with a wave of his own, and watches as the jet of green light narrowly avoids Sirius Black.

"That's my future brother-in-law."

He informs McNair as he struggles to keep a lid on the situation, which is rapidly spiralling out of his control.

A gaggle of school children and an Auror had not been part of his plan.

"I'll call the Dark Lord,"

Panic floods Amycus.

"Are you insane!"

He barks at McNair.

"And let him know that we are unable to handle a group of children and a single Auror, and a girl at that, how incompetent do you want us to look."

How incompetent do you want me to look, is the truth of this statement.

Amycus rakes his sweat slicked palm through his hair.

"I will deal with this."

He assures McNair, tugging down the fabric of his waistcoat, which has somehow managed to ride up again.

There must be a way out of this.

There must be a way for him to escape unscathed.

Alice has just managed to lift the enchantment on Frank Longbottom when she hears it, a familiar voice calling to her.

It's Amycus Carrow.

You don't spend seven years in various classrooms with someone without recognising their voice.

"It's Alice, isn't it?"

She hears him say.

"Congratulations on your appointment to the Auror office."

Amycus says as casually as if they've just bumped into each other in a lift back at The Ministry.

"Congratulations on becoming a Death Eater!"

She shoots back and winces because out of all the things she could have said that is possibly the weakest retort.

Trading barbs has never been her strong point.

She feels dizzy and weak, as if she might topple over at any moment.

By revealing that she knows who he is that she has condemned herself, but as an Auror she has come to accept the idea that there will be a fight one day that she will not escape from, she just wishes that she wasn't so hungover.

"I've already sent a message, the other Aurors will be here soon."

"Good."

That word takes her by surprise.

"We have no interest in you or the children!"

Alice gives Sirius Black a sharp shove as he shouts back.

"Who are you calling children!"

She hears Amycus laugh.

"Of course not."

He sounds ridiculously smooth, they're the same age give or take a month and yet he sounds so much more confident than her.

"All we want is the engine, once we have that you and the others will be free to go. No-one needs to suffer or die today."

Alice's grip grows firmer on her wand as she banished any thought that Amycus Carrow might be telling the truth.

"I can't do that. But you can leave, all of you can go, leave."

She hopes that it doesn't sound like a plea, but knows in her heart that it does.

Alice hears Amycus laugh again, but there's a hard and hollow edge this time.

"We've come to something of an impasse."

He observes.

"I'll give you a little something to think about."

Fumos, she hears Amycus say, as a cloud of thick grey smoke curls from his wand tip, quickly engulfing them before she has the chance to react.

"Stupefy!"

"Reducto!"

Alice, James, Sirius and Frank fire off spells into the thick fog, but the only one of them who has any sense is Dorcus who lights up her wand with lumos, which weakly penetrates the darkness.

"Lumos."

Alice copies Dorcus, and the three boys follow suit, as they squint into the artificial darkness, waiting for Amycus to make his next move.

She holds her breath and waits, her body primed.

Red light splits the darkness, wrapping itself around Dorcus Meadowes who immediately drops to her knees with an ear splitting, agonized scream.

"Dorcus, Dorcus!"

Frank calls reaching for her hand, which appear to contract as her body contorts.

Amycus' target betrays him, as he singles the Muggleborn Dorcus to torture.

"Stupefy!"

Alice fires off her spell into the darkness, and she must hit Amycus because not only does she hear a sudden cry, but the curse lifts from Dorcus, who lies sobbing on the floor.

As the smoke begins to clear she sees that they are now surrounded on all sides by Death Eaters.

She doesn't have a choice now.

"I'm sorry."

She whispers softly and points her wand directly at the engine.

Amycus is on his knees panting.

"Go now!"

She warns him.

"Go now or I will blow us all into the afterlife!"

She feels the tang of iron in her mouth, which pools from a cut on her lip.


	6. Only One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I like the idea that Minerva is a fairly common name in the wizarding world.

Remus blinks and he finds himself sat at the Gryffindor table under the warm glitter of dozens of floating candles.

The rest of the journey to Hogwarts had passed in a blur.

But somehow, somehow he is here.

He can't think about anything but Sirius and of course James, but Sirius is the one that takes up all of his thoughts, because Sirius always takes up all his thoughts.

The empty seat next to him and the one opposite stand as silent testimony that his best friends have not returned yet.

And they're not the only ones Frank Longbottom and Dorcus Meadowes are also missing.

Why haven't them come back yet?

What has happened to the four of them?

Why isn't anyone telling him?

He feels his chest grow tight, and then something warm snake around his arm.

Remus glances down and sees a small white hand, which is attached to Lily Evans.

Lily rests her head against his shoulder.

He has to fight very hard to stop himself from bursting into tears.

"Macdonald, Minerva."

He hears Professor Mcgonnigal say as the Sorting Hat ceremony continues.

"That's Minnie!"

Mary exclaims excitedly, tugging at the sleeve of Peter's shirt at the mention of her younger sister's name.

Remus had spent the summer with his parents who had rented a cottage from The Macdonalds, and who he had spent glorious weeks roaming around the sun drenched Somerset countryside, mostly in the company of Mary, but sometimes Minnie had come with them.

Minnie sits on the stool, her small face pale and pensive, and almost as beautiful as her older sister, almost.

Just like Mary, Minnie's hair falls around her shoulders in ringlets and under the soft glow of the candles her hair looks as if it has been made from threads of spun gold.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The hat proclaims and Mary gives a squeal of joy as Minnie hops off the stool and joins them at their table sitting in James' seat next to Peter.

"Well done Minnie."

Remus hears the other Gryffindors congratulate the girl, but his heart isn't in it.

The Sorting continues and their table fills up with a few more Gryffindors until the horrible moment when a young black boy sits in Sirius' vacant seat.

Remus tries to smile at the boy but it comes out more as a twisted scowl and the boy looks absolutely terrified, which causes him to remember the effect his face has on people outside of his friends.

Professor Dumbledore is absent, so Professor Mcgonnigal reads out the various notices for the year ahead, but Remus only catches the odd snatch of a sentence, which includes the new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher who happens to be someone called Caradoc Dearborn.

There is a ripple of applause for Caradoc Dearborn, which appears to be particularly strong from the girls at the four tables.

"He's a bit alright."

Mary says with a giggle, as if all the things that had happened to them in the day hadn't happened to her at all.

Despite his despair Remus does notice the double take that Peter does on Caradoc.

The feast ends, but Remus is the last to leave the table waiting and waiting and waiting for Sirius and James because surely they will make their grand entrance at the end.

But they don't come and they keep not coming.

"Come on Remus."

Lily holds out her hand, a warm and sympathetic smile across her face.

He waits one more desperate minute and then climbs out of his seat.

The worst part of being a prefect is actually having to be a prefect when all you want to do is curl up into a ball and sob, because the person you love most in the world is missing.

They've wasted so much time.

No, he's wasted so much of their time by being so bloody stubborn and such an unstoppable idiot.

Remus lifts Madam Emma Bovary out of the confines of her travelling basket and onto his bedspread, where she immediately does a wee and then falls asleep.

How easy it is to be a cat.

He glances over at Sirius' empty four poster and then James' and finally Frank's.

The room feels horribly cold, empty, and for the first time he notices the smell of moldy socks that appear to permeate everything.

"I've spoken to Nick,"

Peter's voice breaks through the silence.

"...he said that when Prongs and Padfoot come back he'll tell us. He's promised to keep and eye out and he's roped the Hufflepuff ghost into helping."

For Peter it's still 'when' and not 'if'.

Peter flashes him a hopeful smile as he pulls on his striped pyjamas.

Briefly Remus let's himself imagine what it would be like is Wormtail had disappeared as well, but it's too hard to think about them all gone with only him left behind.

Not just him.

It can never be just him.

There's a tentative knock on the dormitory door and Remus' heart instantly begins to beat faster until logic kicks in an he remembers that Sirius Black and James Potter have never been tentative in their lives and that as a ghost Nearly Headless Nick doesn't have the ability to knock on a door.

Peter thrusts open the door hopefully, clearly having not made any of these deductions in his head.

The small first year who had sat in Sirius' empty seat hovers nervously at the door.

"They told me to come and get you and tell you that you both have to go down stairs."

The boy squeaks out each word, and after having delivered his message quickly runs away.

"These Gryffindors aren't what they use to be."

Peter chuckles as he knots the cord in his dressing gown.

"Are you coming then?"

He asks casting a glance over his shoulder at Remus.

Remus who feels frozen in place, unable to move in case what is waiting for them in the common room are the pained faces of Professors Dumbledore and Mcgonnigal with 'bad news'.

He'd feel it though, he knows that if the worst was to happen to Sirius then he would feel it, he would know.

His heart would shatter.

Remus shrugs on his own dressing gown, which is brown, tatty looking and frayed at the sleeves.

He follows Peter down the stairs, his mind swimming with doubt until he finds the last step.

Lily, Marlene McKinnon, Mary and her younger sister Minnie, greet are waiting for them, and are surrounded by a seat of pillows and duvets.

"Since we're waiting for Dorcus and Frank down here, we wondered if you would like to join us."

Lily says.

"Yeah, we didn't like the idea of you two stuck up in that miserable room with only each other for company."

Marlene adds, her large brown eyes sparkling in the light of the roaring fire, which has been lit in the grate of the common room's fireplace.

"Urgh, that's disgusting."

Minnie exclaims with disgust as Peter and Mary start snogging again.

It seems as if the fates of James and Sirius haven't dampened their ardour.

"Thank you."

Remus says his voice thick with unshed tears.

Lily and Marlene take him by each of his hands and lead him in the direction of the fireplace where he finds Amelia Bones sitting on the sofa with her nose buried between the pages of a herbology text book.

He's surprised to see her since Amelia has always made her distaste for The Maurders clear.

"I'm waiting for Frank."

She clarifies in a haughty voice.

Not James or Sirius or Dorcus, just Frank her best friend.

The Gryffindor common room is filled with sound of sleep.

Amelia is curled up on one of the sofas with her text book resting against her chest, while her glasses are threaten to slide off the tip of her nose at any moment.

Mary and Minnie occupy the other sofa, Mary's hand hanging over the edge where her fingers tangle between Peter's.

Lily and Marlene lay together on the floor wrapped in a single duvet.

While at the centre of it all sits Remus, the only one still awake he stares with red rimmed eyes blankly into the fire.

He's still waiting Sirius.

And then Nearly Headless Nick throws him off balance by floating through the closed door covering the portrait hole.

"He's coming!"

Nick says excitedly.

He is coming, which rules out Dorcus and is singular asking him to choose between Sirius and James.

He can't...but he does...let it be Sirius...let it be Sirius...let it be Sirius...

Sirius please, please, please...

Remus feels the others begin to wake up around him.

Sirius...

Frank ducks his head through the portrait hole.

At the sight of him Remus' heart sinks.

Frank looks startled, so much paler than usual and his clothes are singed.

There's been a fire, Sirius and James have been through a fire.

"Frank!"

Amelia Bones runs to her best friend and throws her arms around his neck.

"Milly!"

They stand there holding one another, while Remus silently hates them for their good fortune in finding one another again.


	7. Heroes Don't Die in Newcastle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I love Newcastle.

Amycus Carrow laughs at her, as if she's just told the best joke that he has ever heard.

He laughs and laughs and laughs and Alice feels her heart grow tight.

So tight.

Her arm trembles from where she extends her wand in the direction of her destruction and her salvation.

Is this what it had felt like for her parents?

Poor Alice Fortescue, her parents are dead, killed by Death Eaters.

Poor Alice Fortescue, who is forced to live with her cousin Florian, the only member of her family still living.

Florian had been good to her, and he'd tried his best but the truth was that he hadn't been more than a boy himself when she had been brought to his door, the door of the ice cream parlor in Diagon Alley.

She hates ice cream, the sweetness and the cold, and the taste of her tears.

Poor Alice Fortescue...

"You're a brave little lion."

Amycus says in a mocking tone of congratulations, once his laughter has subsided.

She is, she is a lion.

The tang of her blood rolls across her tongue.

Scarlet and gold.

She hears Dorcus' desperate groan.

"Leave us alone!"

Alice pleads one last time.

She remembers the look of mischievous delight that James Potter and Sirius Black had worn at the sight of her and now, and now she's going to kill them, Longbottom and Meadowes too.

"Enough now, this hysteria has gone on for long enough."

Amycus tells her as he rakes a hand through his hair.

"Do you really expect us to believe that you're willing to blow up for Hogwarts students and half of,"

He stops briefly tipping his head in the direction of a fellow Death Eater where she hears him ask.

"Where exactly are we?"

"Newcastle."

Comes the reply.

Amycus tugs down the fabric of his waistcoat, which is that little bit too tight for him.

"Do you really want to die in Newcastle, Alice?"

It's her turn to laugh this time, she laughs and shakes her head and hopes that the longer she can keep up this stalemate the less likely it is that she will die in Newcastle.

Her patronus must have reached Moody by now, and if not, then the fact that the Hogwarts Express has been ripped in half must have alerted someone.

Someone must be coming.

Any moment now she will hear that familiar pop as...

Pop!

Alice hears the sound some someone apperating.

Pop, pop, pop!

And more, and more.

"Aurors!"

The Death Eater who had identified their location, exclaims with a panicked voice.

Alice exhales a sigh of relief at the sound of Moody's familiar roar as he scatters the crowd of Death Eaters with a wave of his great wand.

A skirmish breaks out, but Alice stays firm holding her position keeping her wand level with the engine should the worst happen.

"I want to fight!"

Sirius declares excitedly, and she is forced to catch him by the collar of his shirt and hold him fast as he wriggled.

Her glance shifts to James Potter fearing that she doesn't have enough hands to keep them both from running into the fray, but the blow to his head must be more serious than it appears, as he sits on the floor of the carriage with a dazed expression.

Frank Longbottom and Dorcus Meadowes are less of a concern as Frank sits carefully cradling Dorcus' head in his lap, while the girl continues to cry.

"Are you still planning on blowing us all up?"

Sirius asks, his grey eyes ablaze with a manic fire that makes him look quite mad.

He's enjoying this.

"Not if you stay here like a good little boy."

He's taller than her, bigger than her, and yet Alice holds him fast.

His mad eyes flash.

"What's so special about the engine?"

Sirius Black delights in forever wrong footing her.

Alice sighs and let's him go waving him in the direction of the copper coloured engine.

She watches from the corner of her eye as Sirius moves towards the engine and lifts the cover a shard of golden light colouring his pale face.

"That can't be."

He gasps in amazement.

The expression on his face is the same as the one she had worn when Moody had explained to her the inner workings of the train.

"Is it alive?"

Alice hadn't expected him to ask that.

"Is it in pain?"

Or that.

She hadn't wondered about any of those things herself she'd simply excepted it.

"I can't wait to tell Moony about this."

That's when it happens, that's when the streak of red shoots from Amycus' wand and narrowly flies passed Alice.

She watches it as it shoots passed her and hits Sirius squarely in the back.

He slumps to the floor, the lid of the engine snaps closed.

When Sirius opens his eyes he finds himself staring up at a volted ceiling he knows all to well.

He's in the hospital wing.

He turns his head and sees the very best thing that he could ever possibly see and that is Remus Lupin snoozing lightly in a chair next to his bed.

Sirius takes a moment to soak in the sight of Mr Moony.

Remus is beautiful, especially when he's asleep, when all the panic and strain of his day, of his life has left his face, and he looks the way he probably always should have.

"I love you, you great big prat."

Sirius grins to himself.

Remus' brown eyes snap open.

"What?!"

He says in a started, sleep filled voice.

Their eyes meet.

Their eyes meet and first the longest time they just stare at the other, marveling in the fact that they are both alive and breathing.

"Padfoot!"

Remus exclaims.

Sirius holds out his hand, which he notices that his skin is the same colour as the sheet wrapped around him.

With the touch of his hand an invisible dam suddenly breaks inside Remus as he leans forward in his chair and covers Sirius' face with a rain of kisses.

"I love you."

Remus says between each kiss.

"I love you."

"I love you."

Sirius smiles under this wonderful assault, which ends with Remus driving his tongue deep down his throat.

They kiss at this weird angle, as they grip tightly onto one another.

"I should go missing more often."

Sirius chuckles when they finally stop kissing.

"Don't you dare."

Remus shoots back, hitting him hard on the top of his arm.

"Ow!"

Sirius complains bitterly, with a wide smile across his handsome face.

"I do love you."

Remus says in a softer voice.

"I know."

Sirius grins back.


	8. We've Come From The Future To Destroy The Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a short one...

"This feels wrong."

Peter observes as he falls into the chair furthest away from Sirius' bedside.

"Why, because we're usually only in here because of him?"

Sirius says, as he points towards Remus.

Despite being the victim of a particularly nasty curse Sirius still manages to look spectacular, with his dark ringlets pooling around his shoulders, and contrasting perfectly with the pristine white of his pillows.

Remus opens his mouth to rebuke this claim, but is interrupted by James.

"And his furry little problem."

James winks theatrically.

Everyone laughs, excluding Remus who wears an exasperated expression.

When the giggling fit is finally at an end, Remus seizes the opportunity to present Sirius with a roll of parchment.

"Is it a love letter?"

Sirius asks with a teasing grin that doesn't advance any further up his face.

Is he being serious, well obviously yes always, but right now?

Remus clears his throat.

"It's your new timetable."

He watches as Sirius' face falls imperceptibly.

"Cheer up, Pads, look at all that free time we have."

Imperceptibly to everyone other than James and himself.

James reaches out and unfolds the piece of parchment pointing to the various gaps around their potion lessons.

Remus shifts uncomfortably in his seat, because he has yet to tell Sirius that not only has he dropped Potions in favour of Care of Magical Creatures with Peter, and that other than Defence Against The Dark Arts, which is compulsory, and Charms, they won't be having any other lessons together for the whole year.

He's staved off telling Sirius any of this because he's pretty certain he knows what his reaction will be, which is of course and always, hysterical, and never, ever, ever in the good way.

And as a responsible 'rubbish boyfriend' he wants to keep Sirius from getting too worked up, too soon in his current condition.

"Our timetables are identical."

James exclaims happily from his big flapping mouth.

"What all four of us?"

Internally Remus cringes at Sirius' question.

"No, I'm doing Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology with Moony."

Thank you Peter Pettigrew.

"How, how are you going to study Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology with Peter, if you're doing Potions, Transfiguration and Divination with James and I?"

Sirius asks.

"I'm still taking Transfiguration."

Peter pipes up, but they ignore him.

This is just the sort of scene that Remus had hoped to avoid, but honestly by now he should know that it's impossible to avoid a scene when your boyfriend is Sirius 'undisclosed middle name' Black.

Sirius is a scene in himself.

"Well ah that's, that's the thing."

Remus feels his face begin to grow very hot, very quickly.

He's rubbish a lying.

He's rubbish at blushing.

"Wormy, why don't we go and stand over there and stare out of the window."

James says, as he gets up from his seat, and attempts to pull Peter into an upright position.

This is his attempt at being subtle.

"But I don't want to stand over there and stare out of the window, I'm happy here."

Peter complains, his voice filled with confusion.

"What about if I pay you in chocolate frogs?"

Peter immediately gets up and wanders away with James.

"What am I supposed to be looking at out of this window, it's a very bland view."

Sirius and Remus are somewhat alone, and Remus tugs his hand into his own.

"You know how rubbish I am a potions, and really when am I ever going to need to brew anything, when I live with a potions master."

That came out a bit strong, and he watches as Sirius' eyes widen.

"Do you think I'm a potions master?"

Alrigh, so perhaps not as strong as he had first feared.

"Also, did you just ask me to move in with you on behalf of your future self?"

Yes, no, maybe, yes...yes he did.

Remus shrugs by way of a reply.

"What subjects are you taking, I need to know so I can check we've got the correct skill sets for our future household."

Remus leand forward and plants a kiss on the side of Sirius' head.


	9. Happy Birthday Miss McKinnon pt.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween...

Marlene McKinnon's favourite day of the year is the 31st October, because this is the one day of the year where she gets to be the centre of attention.

Alright so Halloween is the most stereotypical date in the calendar for any witch or wizard to be born.

And yes, her birthday is somewhat overshadowed by the Headless Hunt's Ball and the air of general celebration that penetrates the castle, but still, well, it's what she's been stuck with, and McKinnons make the best of a bad situation, or so she has been told by her parents on various occasions.

Speaking of her parents, Marlene can't help but notice the pile of presents that has magically appeared on the end of her bed.

She decides to open them in order of which will probably be the best/most expensive/thoughtful.

Marlene rips of the scarlet and gold paper, that covers the gift from her Mum and Dad, which turns out to be a small golden snitch for her charm bracelet, and the dress robes that she'd pointed out to her Mum 500 or so times during their visits to Madam Malkin's.

The presents from her eldest brothers Alfie and Denis turn out to be Quidditch tickets (which is cheap considering Alfie is a Chaser with Puddlemere United) and a long letter from Denis explaining that he has started a tab for her in The Three Broomsticks (which is a reason why he is her favourite brother) and something else about a place called The Room of Requirements.

Marlene's final gift is from her brother Rory, who usually gives her something practical, but this year is slightly different as she unwraps a polishing set for her broomstick.

Now from anyone else polishes for her broom would be an extremely practical present, but since it comes from Rory it is incredibly frivolous since he's never been as obsessed with Quidditch as the rest of their family.

She moves onto the other presents on her bed the ones from her Grandfather, her Aunts, Uncles and cousins, and feels exceptional lucky to have such a large family.

"What's he doing now?"

James asks anxiously as places the tray of butter beers in the middle of the table.

"They're still talking to Hagrid."

Sirius explains as he reaches for one of the glasses, passing it to Remus before selecting another for himself.

"There's no conclusive consensus on the nature of their relationship."

Remus says, as he touches the rim of his glass to Sirius'.

"I think she's his girlfriend."

Peter's observation causes the mood to dampen.

The other three boys turn in their seats to get a good look at the trio who are seated the closest to the fire and who appear to be deep in excited conversation.

Hagrid's laughter booms across the pub, but the only thing that James, Sirius and Remus are interested in is Caradoc Dearborn and the delicate looking brunette at his side.

Caradoc Dearborn is the latest in a long line of Defence Against The Dark Arts professors that have graced the school since The Maurders started, however unlike the rest who were either evil, incompetent, old, boring, Caradoc is young, extremely handsome and a really, really, really brilliant teacher, just the best.

Or at least that's what James Potter thinks.

He thinks about Caradoc quite a bit when he's on his own and the curtains of his four poster bed are closed and...

James clears his throat and sits down.

"Wormy might have a point, they don't look very much alike."

Sirius sighs and turns away from Caradoc.

"That doesn't mean anything, lots of siblings don't look exactly alike."

James says hopefully, but unconvincingly.

Sirius gives him a meaningful stare from behind his butterbeer, because in The Black family, thanks to centuries of good old fashioned inbreeding everyone looks alike.

"I don't know why you've all got your wands in a knot over Dearborn, he's nothing special."

Peter glares darkly.

"What are you going as tonight young Mr Wormtail, will you and Mary be coordinating?"

Remus asks, changing the subject.

Peter's mood appears to lift.

"I'm afraid not, Mary's keeping all that under her hat but I shall be attending tonight's festivities as a generic Slytherin."

Sirius almost jokes on his butterbeer, while James burst into laughter.

"I wish I'd thought of that!"

He exclaims excitedly, while Sirius continues to cough, and Remus is left with no choice but to slap him hard on the back.

"What are you going as?"

Remus enquires mid slap.

"Babbity Rabbity."

James replies.

"What again!"

Peter frowns.

Babbity Rabbity is not only James' favourite fictional rabbit, but also character in general.

"You can stop now, Moony."

Sirius says in a hoarse sounding voice.

"If you insist."

Remus replies with a smirk.

"What about you two, are you doing anything gross and coupley?"

Sirius and Remus share a disgusted look at James' question.

"Absolutely bloody not."

Sirius explains frankly, before leaning forward excitedly.

"I've got a Muggle costume from a Muggle shop!"

He says as if it's the best thing ever.

"That's amazing! How did you get it, what is it?"

Asks James, his levels of excitement easily a match for that of his best friend.

Sirius taps the side of his nose with a knowing expression.

"That is for me to know, and for you to find out Mr Prongs."

Sirius throws back his head and laughs, the smile only slipping from his face as Remus casually slips his hand under the table and squeezes the top of his thigh.

"And you Moony?"

Remus gives a knowing smile and then mumbles something into his glass, which gets lost as James points out suddenly.

"They're on the move."

They all turn to watch as Hagrid, Caradoc and his mysterious guest exit the pub together.

"I still reckon that she's his girlfriend."

Peter concludes.

"What do you think, brilliant aren't I?"

Sirius says as he waves his wand and theatrically emerges from behind the curtains of his four poster.

"You look ridiculous."

Remus is the first one to crack as he bursts into a fit of laughter.

Sirius stands before them resplendent in a cheap looking black cape which comes with an equally inexpensive red lining, a white shirt that looks as if it is capable of generating enough static electricity to power the average Muggle home, and the costume is completed by a pair of plastic Vampire teeth.

"What are you?"

Peter asks with a confused frown, as he slings his Slytherin scarf casually over one shoulder.

"Dracula."

James responds, with a expression of absolute amazement on his face as he lightly tugs at Sirius' cape.

"What's it made of, it feels horrible."

"That would be good old fashioned synthetic fibers, we should probably keep Padfoot away from any naked flames."

Remus observes, as he tries not to notice the suggestive way that Sirius' eyebrow quirks at his use of the word naked.

James adds the finishing touches to his own costume with the addition of a pair of rabbit ears, which sit high above his shock of messy dark hair.

"Right troops, let's be off."

James grins and slaps his hands together.

Three of The Maurders make their way towards the dormitory door, however Sirius halts them in their progress by asking with difficulty from behind his teeth.

"What about Moony, he's not wearing a costume."

James and Peter regard Remus for a moment.

"Padfoot is right, I hadn't noticed."

Peter says.

"Where's your costume?"

"Au contraire,"

Remus says ignoring Peter.

He pauses as he struggles to think of the French word for boyfriend, so in the end he settles for...

"...boyfriend,"

Remus, Sirius and James all smile at this, while Peter rolls his eyes.

"...this is my costume."

He waves in the direction of the scruffy jumper and jeans combination, which he usually wears whenever he's not in his uniform.

"I'm Remus Lupin sans Moony."

The smile on James' face falters at this, while Peter whispers a faint "Oh Remus.".

But none of that matters, all that matters to Remus is Sirius and his reaction.

Sirius gives him the once up and down.

"You cheap bugger!"

He exclaims.

That's my boy, Remus thinks with a grin.

He grabs Sirius' hand and pulls him against his side as the four boys make their way down the stone staircase to where they find Frank Longbottom and Amelia Bones waiting for them by the fire and dressed as a pair of green skinned grindylows, complete with extra tentacles.

Amelia regards them with an air of suspicion, because that's the way she always looks at them as if they are going to somehow take Frank away from her and replace her as his best friend.

This paranoia only seems to have grown since the incident on the train had given James, Sirius and Frank a common bond.

Still at least Amelia doesn't openly hate them the way she does Dorcus Meadowes.

"Grindylows, excellent."

James beams enthusiastically.

"It was all Milly's idea."

Frank explains with pride as he wraps a tentacle around his best friend's shoulder.

"We should get going, in case Flich discovers the party before we get there."

Amelia says coolly.

"Where are the girls?"

She gives James a pointed stare, which softens slightly as she says.

"You know what they're like, Marlene wants to make some grand entrance."

So Babbity Rabbity, Muggle Dracula, Remus Lupin sans Moony, a Generic Slytherin and two Grindylows leave Gryffindor Tower.


	10. If They String Me Up, I'll Know Who Brought The Twine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is not my favourite piece of writing, way too much tell not show.

"It's as if they think that we came down in the last shower, that we haven't noticed that thr school has been invaded by merpeople and werewolves."

Professor Flitwick grins from behind his glass of Oak Matured Mead, and since Professor Sprout has never heard of small measures his glass is almost twice the size of him.

His comment causes a ripple of laughter from Professors Sprout and Slughorn, however Mcgonnigal appears more pensive than the rest.

"I don't know what Albus can be thinking."

She says from behind pursed lips.

"Oh come now Minerva, it's all in good fun."

Slughorn chuckles as he takes a slurp of his drink from behind his large, carefully curated moustache.

Mcgonnigal glances at him from the corner of her eyes.

"Well, we never had parties like this in my day."

She concludes.

"Perhaps we attended a different school."

Sprout says with a knowing smirk, which causes Flitwick to hiccup loudly.

Mcgonnigal opens her mouth to speak, but is interrupted by a new voice.

"Perhaps, it's just a Hufflepuff tendency, Professor."

Sprout regards the pretty brunette, who is perched on the edge of a mustard coloured over stuffed sofa.

"How many times must I remind you, it's Pomona, now, Beatrice."

Sprout warns the young woman with a playful tap on the knee.

Beatrice demures with a giggle, and the two Hufflepuffs clink their glasses together.

"I must say, it's satisfying to have The Dearborn twins back under the castle roof."

Slughorn observes as he leans back into his chair with a satisfied expression.

Caradoc rests his hand on his sister's shoulder and squeezes it lightly.

"I know we're not supposed to have favourites,"

Flitwick squeaks.

"...but Ravenclaw has not been the same since you graduated."

"Well, I wish you'd reflected that in my N.E.W.Ts mark for charms."

Caradoc chuckles lightly.

"Who says I didn't."

Flitwick waggles his eyebrows, causing Caradoc to throw back his head and laugh loudly.

Caradoc leans back in the overstuffed sofa, and watches as the shadows rise up the the round, honeycoloured walls of Sprout's office, how different it is from how he had spent the year before, where he had been recovering in St. Mungo's after a particularly nasty duel with two Death Eaters.

What a change it is to feel safe and warm and without pain.

The sound of his sister's laughter drags him back into the room and the moment, as he watches her display the large aquamarine ring that glitters from her engagement finger.

Slughorn regards the ring with a delighted gleam in his small dark eyes.

"Have you set a date yet?"

Mcgonnigal asks with interest.

"We want to get married as soon as possible."

Beatrice replies, what she doesn't say is the reason behind the haste, which is her desire to get back out to Egypt, because heaven forfend something like a wedding get in the way of her curse breaking.

As he watches the delighted look on his sister's face, he can't help but wonder what that must feel like.

He's never felt the way that Beatrice, the way everyone else appears to feel when the fire of their heart is ignited by another human being.

Caradoc has tried.

He's tried with girls and boys, he's tried to force the feelings he thinks he should probably feel into his body, but it never takes.

He's never felt desire for another person, just the pretence of the thing.

Things are different now, now he's over the age of thirty, now that he finally feels as if he has grown into the man he should be, he's made peace with his lack of romantic desires.

He's made peace with a lot of things.

"On that note I should probably be leaving, I don't like the idea of trying to apparate out of Hogsmeade after another glass of this."

Beatrice muses as she holds aloft her empty glass.

It takes longer than it probably should for them to part company with the professors, with Slughorn being particularly clingy.

Once they are alone in the cool atmosphere of the corridor outside Sprout's office does Caradoc realise how drunk he actually is.

He takes a lung full of cold air in a bid to steady himself, as Beatrice slips her warm arm through the crook of his own.

She could always hold her booze a lot better than him.

"I have to hand it to Sprout she certainly likes a potent mead."

Beatrice says, her words slightly slurred as they begin to walk along the corridor.

"Don't you mean Pon, Pom, Pomeranian."

Caradoc corrects her.

"Are you drunk?"

He feels cross-eyed as Beatrice rests an index finger against his nose.

"Incorrigibly."

He's not sure that's even a word, it's probably not a word.

"Professor Dearborn!"

Beatrice snorts with laughter.

It's been a long time, too long really since they've seen each other, or since they've been in the same hemisphere.

Is Egypt in a different hemisphere?

He's missed her his sister, his twin, the other half of himself.

Caradoc doesn't give voice to these thoughts however, because it isn't fair.

He has his work with The Order of the Phoenix and she has her curse breaking and a fiancee.

Their lives are slowly moving in different directions, separating them.

"You are a brilliant, sister."

He observes with a slur.

"Now, I know that you're drunk."

"There was a password on the door!"

James says in a voice filled with amazement.

"A password!"

He continues, pulling at the synthetic material of Sirius' shirt in his excitement.

"We are at a party with a password on the door!"

He finally concludes with an excited squeal.

"Don't get out much, do you."

Amelia Bones mutters under her breath and from inside her Grindylow costume.

James ignores her.

"Where are we?"

Remus asks as they move through a maze of heavy black curtains and the Muggle version of fairy lights, holding on tightly to Sirius' hand as he moves.

"Check the map."

Sirius says as he casts a glance over his shoulder, and Remus is instantly struck by how the other boy manages to make the cheapest of cheap Halloween costumes look both glamorous and sexy.

Oh Merlin, did he really just think the word sexy?

Sexiness is something that doesn't come easily to Remus J Lupin, or at least he doesn't think it does.

He's babbling.

"I left it on my bed."

Peter pipes up from behind him.

"I don't think I've ever been to this part of the castle before, we're probably going to have to,"

But then he just stops speaking as the black curtains part to reveal a Muggle discotheque complete with dry ice and a light up dance floor.

"I knew Dumbledore had his own nightclub!"

Sirius exclaims as if vindicated on a theory he's never actually voiced before.

"No, this has Minnie Mcgonnigal's fingerprints all over it."

James corrects him, and then immediately asks with a hopeful voice.

"Do you think Professor Dearborn is here?"

"Can you see the girls?"

Peter ignores him as he peers into the crowd of dancing Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws.

Remus tries not to spot Amy Floss, his ex-girlfriend, as she moves towards them to steal away Frank.

She's dressed as a Muggle jockey in Ravenclaw coloured silks, but thankfully her long mane of curly dark hair is covered up underneath a riding hat.

The same glorious hair that Remus use to wrap around his fingers while they were snogging.

Amy never liked it when he pulled her hair, not like Sirius who seems to quite enjoy it.

Remus feels Sirius' sweaty grip tighten at the sight of Amy.

"Nice costume."

Sirius tells Amy, who glances briefly at Remus as if she's surprised that she's being addressed and wants him to somehow act as a translator.

"Oh. Thank you."

She wears a confused expression as Frank snakes his arm around her waist.

Sirius is trying very hard to overcome his jealousy for which Remus couldn't possibly love him anymore, but of course he does, he doesn't tell him that Amy and Frank and the rest of the room fades into nothingness when compared to Sirius.

"Oh Frankie!"

Amy giggles as Frank drags her away, with Amelia drifting away soon after.

"Oh Re Re!"

Sirius giggles in a passable impression of Amy that is frankly frightening.

"Don't ever call me that again."

Remus deadpans.

Sirius throws back his head and barks with laughter.

He reaches out and grabs a chunk of Remus' jumper and pulls him into his arms.

Remus likes it when Sirius takes the lead like this, it's so much less embarrassing.

"Fancy doing something gross and coupley?"

Remus feels the weight of Sirius' arms around his neck and his just about to lean in and kiss him when...

"Hello everyone, I just want to thank you all for deciding to attend my birthday festivities. As you know I'm famous for being selfish and entitled and always getting my own way."

As Sirius pulls away from the direction of his lips Remus recognises Marlene McKinnon's voice booming out over a Muggle microphone.

Mentally his mouth drops at the sight of Marlene, who is dressed as Sirius in his Quidditch uniform and wearing a resplendent dark wig.

"I'm also famous for having three 'friends'."

Remus shrinks inside himself as he's pretty certain what is coming.

"My absolute best friend and future husband the obnoxious James Potter, who has never seen a hair brush or learned the word no."

Lily steps forward dressed as James also clad in a Quiddich uniform, wearing a black wig that makes her look that she has been electrocuted, but the finishing touch to her costume is a wedding veil.

Remus steals a quick glance at James who appears absolutely bewitched at the sight of Lily.

"Babe."

Marlene leans forward and greets Lily with a kiss on the cheek, which earns a roar of appreciation from the room, and the odd titter in Sirius and James' direction.

"I regularly cheat on James with my reluctant boyfriend Remus Lupin."

Mary steps forward, her long golden tresses contained and concealed, resplendent in a scruffy jumper and scarred face.

Her impression of him is pitch perfect, but to be honest compared to the roasting of Sirius and James, he thinks he gets off easy.

"But don't worry, he won't be giving you a detention, because he's so desperate to be liked."

Ouch.

"And then there's that one,"

Marlene points to Dorcus who is dressed as Peter, and who unlike the other three girls appears to be having a lot less fun.

In fact Dorcus looks as if she has been having a lot less fun ever since she was released from the hospital wing.

"...nobody knows what he does, but it's good to have him around. Well done Peter, you're popular."

Marlene keeps up her version of what passes for witty, drunken banter, while Lily, Mary and Dorcus find their opposite numbers in the crowd.

"So, what do you think, do I make a good James Potter?"

Lily asks with a smile, as she does a little twirl.

"You make an excellent addition to team Potter."

James says without a shred of self awareness.

At his comment however, Lily's green eyes widen, while her fake tanned complexion takes on a decidedly pinker tone.

Remus for his part isn't sure how much he likes the sight of Peter sticking his tongue down his throat as he enthusiastically greets Mary.

Dorcus says nothing, as she stands a little to the side, until Lily drapes a comforting arm across her narrow shoulders.

"I hate this."

Sirius is of course the one to sound the note of discontent, but to be fair Marlene has gone a lot harder on him than any of the other girls.

"It's disrespectful."

He continues, displaying even less self awareness than James, which is frankly startling.

"Marlene McKinnon is a massive..."

To save the situation Remus decides that he has absolutely no choice, but to sweep Sirius Black off his feet, which stops his complaining for at least a minute or two, hopefully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is my first attempt at an asexual character.  
> I also liked the idea that Beatrice is a curse breaking Hufflepuff, as we don't often see Hufflepuffs portrayed like that.


	11. It's Just Not James Potter's Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after Marlene's birthday party.

James Potter is caught between two different feelings.

The first feeling is a vague awareness of pain, pain in the back of his head and the tale-tale beginnings of a hangover.

He's only been drunk a handful of times, but this he knows, these feelings he remembers.

The second feeling is something less familiar, something soft and warm spread out underneath him.

His sleep dulled thoughts are filled with the memory of Lily Evans dressed just like him, as his double.

Merlin, she is hot, even when pretending to be a boy.

Especially when she is pretending to be a boy.

James presses himself shameless into the softness beneath him.

Lily oh Lily, my Lily.

He feels himself getting hard at the thought of her.

The warmth shifts against him, pressing back.

Lily.

Is it really her?

Still addled by his dreams, and not ready to open his eyes just yet, he tries to remember the last time he had seen her at Marlene's birthday party.

She'd been dancing with Marlene and her girlfriend Clemency, and he recalls that Clemency had been dressed as a dragon trainer, but nothing else is particularly clear.

It's all just flashes.

A flash of red hair.

The flash of a wide white smile.

The colours of the dance floor pulsating under his feet.

It doesn't smell like Lily, the flesh beneath his fingers and under his nose.

She has a particular scent, a mix of floral perfumes that in James' mind at least is impossible to replicate.

This does not smell like that.

He smells sweat and something else, something that he's smelt before, alot...

"Hummm."

The warm shapes hums beneath him.

"Padfoot."

James' hazel eyes snap open, and he finds himself staring at the familiar outline of Remus Lupin's freckled and scarred back.

There's a laugh.

James sits up violently to find Sirius, Peter and Frank standing at the end of his four poster bed, all struggling to contain various stages of hilarity.

"Prongs, why are you in my bed?"

Remus exclaims.

The other three boys immediately fall into a fit of laughter, with Sirius having to cling to Peter to keep himself standing up right.

"Good morning lovebirds."

Frank greets them with a wide smile.

"We're you dry humping me?"

"I thought you were Lily!"

James answers instantly without thinking.

"Get out of my bed."

Remus demands, as James continues to sit next to him in the bed.

Sheepishly he climbs out of the bed, his cheeks ablaze and his head pounding hard.

Sirius immediately flops into the space vacated by James.

"Should I be worried about you two?"

He asks Remus with a wide grin, as he plants a kiss against his cheek.

"Why must you torture me."

Remus groans and drags his pillow over his head.

It's a Sunday, Sundays in the castle are often lazy, particularly Sundays in Autumn and Winter when the nights are drawing in and it's really too cold to enjoy Quidditch practice.

His tongue still feels as if it's made from cotton wool, and his head, his poor head.

It's been pounding all day, and frustratingly it seems as if he is the only one affected, since the last time he'd seen Sirius, Remus, and Peter they'd been heading off for a session in The Three Broomsticks with Mary.

So basically the four of them are off doing 'coupley things' and James is destined to be a perpetual third wheel.

Especially since he'd caught sight of Verity Smith, the only girl he's ever kissed, snogging the face off Benji Fenwick at the party.

Still kissing Verity the first time had been a drunken mistake, and he'd never been receptive to her overtures since then, so no wonder she'd given up on him.

And look, if he has to be thrown over, not that, that's what's happened, but he can't think of anyone better to be thrown over for than Benji Fenwick, who James thinks is brilliant both on and off the Quidditch pitch, even if he does play for Hufflepuff.

So James is on his own, both physically and romantically, and left to wander around the castle letting the staircases take him where they will, until he eventually finds himself standing in a corridor.

Some of the pictures wave at him, while others snooze lazily behind their frames.

He hears the creek of a door, and dives behind a nearby suit of armour, why he does this is a mystery even to himself.

Crouching behind the suit of armour he watches as a young woman with shoulder length brown hair walks through the door.

From behind his glasses James' eyes widen as he realises that he recognises the woman from The Three Broomsticks, when he had seen her in the company of Caradoc Dearborn and Hagrid.

As if on que Professor Dearborn appears behind the woman, resting his shoulder against the stone frame as the pair talk casually.

"I think you had the right idea about staying the night."

The woman says.

James is instantly scandalized and a little bit jealous when confront by the fact that the unknown woman had spent the night with Professor Dearborn in his rooms.

Who is she?

For all they know Professor Dearborn could have let a Death Eater into the school for the sake of a bit of rumpy pumpy.

This also brings his mind onto another subject, which is, do the other professors have guests?

He shudders at the thought of Professor Mcgonnigal entertaining 'gentleman callers' at all hours of the night.

Minnie how could you, Sirius will be crushed.

"Well, I'd never forgive myself if you got yourself splinched in half while you were pissed."

Professor Dearborn chuckles back in response.

He just used the word pissed!!!

A teacher actually swore!

"No, that would be a terrible way to go."

The woma giggles back, and already James dislikes her.

"Memorable though."

Professor Dearborn says, as he pulls on his jacket and closes the door behind him, waving his wand over the lock.

"I think I'd like to die surrounded by food."

The woman says.

"What a sight for someone to find, your mouldy remains surrounded by plates of equally mouldy food. Can we stop being morbid?"

Professor Dearborn says, as he holds out the crook of his arm for the woman to take.

James feels a swell of jealousy as he watches the woman slip her arm through Professor Dearborn's own.

"If you insist, you spoil sport."

The woman's laughter bounces off the stone of the walls, as the pair arm in arm round the corner out of his sight.

So Peter was finally right about something, much to James disappointment, Professor Dearborn does have a girlfriend.

Today really isn't James Potter's day.


	12. They're Coming To Get You Barbara!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Firstly I would like to say an absolutely huge thank you to Aqua Myosotis Scorpioides for all her words of encouragement and hand holding...
> 
> This is my first attempt ever at SMUT and it's pretty basic.
> 
> Sirius and Remus are 16 and 15, so if that's not your jam, skip this chapter.

"They're coming to get you Barbara."

The sound of Mary's excited squeals echo around the grounds, as Sirius follows behind her with his arms outstretched in front of his body.

Remus watches the pair with an indulgent smile as he brings up the rear with Peter.

"No Sirius, no!"

Mary squeals again, as she desperately tries to escape.

For one brief moment Remus stops panicking over Sirius' impending sixteenth birthday, but then he remembers all over again and picks up the thread of his anxiety.

Sixteen is a big birthday, significant, and he should probably give Sirius something special, like his virginity.

Oh Merlin!

That's a big step.

He knows it's a monumental step for their relationship, especially when he considers that only a couple of months before he'd vowed to end things with Sirius forever.

But Remus Lupin and Sirius Black will never be just friends, so that resolution had folded like soggy cardboard.

He loves Sirius more than he will ever, ever be able to say.

He wanders behind Sirius and Mary in something of a daze until Peter punctures the bubble around him.

"I'm still trying to work out what Jeremy Reilly was supposed to be last night, some sort of a turtle?"

Peter shrugs.

Remus tries to remember if he had seen Jeremy Reilly, a fifth year Gryffindor at Marlene's party, but to be honest he'd spent so much of said party in a handy cupboard with Sirius that he can't recall seeing a great deal of the night.

He's got so many love bites up and down his neck that he's been forced to wrap his Gryffindor scarf around twice, in a bid to hide them.

They'd also drunk a fair amount of beer.

Too much for James.

"Yes, probably."

Remus mutters under his breath as he digs his hands into the pockets of his painfully thin coat.

His gaze shifts from the outline of Sirius' back to the boy at his side.

"Wormtail,"

He says his voice tight.

"You and Mary are happy, right?"

Remus asks, as he tries to summon the courage to actually ask the question that's bothering him.

"Yes. I mean I think so, why are things going south with you and Padfoot, again?"

Peter's reply isn't what Remus was expecting, it's more cryptic than that.

"No, no things are really, we're not, everything is good."

He practically winces out each word.

"We're happy too."

Remus finally manages to say.

"That's great."

Peter says, as he pats him on the back.

The next part comes in a rush, because truth be told he'd much rather be talking to James about this than Peter, but it's Peter that he is stuck with.

"Have you and Mary..."

He struggles to articulate the rest, so instead he settles on some odd hand gesture, that they both end up staring at in confusion.

Finally the galleon drops with Peter.

"No."

Peter says with a disappointed expression.

"But we have done some things."

He quickly adds, his pale cheeks turning pink.

"I mainly do those things to her, though."

This was also something of a surprise since Remus rather judgementally, had thought that it would be the other way around.

Also it's more information than he wanted to know.

"Why, aren't you two?"

Peter turns the question back on him.

Remus feels heat rise from his neck and up his cheeks, as he ruffles a hand through the back of his hair.

He clears his throat.

"No, we're not."

"But you share a bed."

Peter responds in amazement.

Remus is on the point of refuting this claim when he stops to consider it for a moment, and tries to think of the handful of times that Sirius hasn't spent the night in his bed since the beginning of term.

"It hasn't come up."

That's a stone cold lie, since waking up next to Sirius never fails to engorge a certain part of his anatomy.

Peter gives him a quizzical look.

"Well, I was planning on asking Sirius from some tips, but I suppose I'll try to corner Frank or the girls."

Finally something that doesn't surprise Remus is the fact that Peter would rather talk to Sirius than him about sex, because he can barely think the word without panicking, let alone get into an in depth conversation about the logistics.

Another galleon falls.

Peter's small eyes widen.

"You weren't,"

He asks, his voice filled with amazement.

"You weren't going to ask me for advice were you?"

Remus swallows thickly.

"Perish the thought Wormtail, perish the throught."

He lies.

2 Days Later.  
A.K.A The Birthday of one Mr Padfoot.

"Where are you taking me? Not that I mind, I quite like being led around the castle by my mysterious boyfriend. It reminds me of when we first met and I couldn't decide if,"

"Padfoot."

Remus interrupts him.

"Hummm."

Sirius hums from behind his blindfold.

"You're rambling."

At this statement, is met by Sirius with a bark of laughter.

Remus feels Sirius' hand tighten in his own, and he can't resist reeling him into his arms and planting a kiss on Sirius' open mouth.

"That's nice, I know it's you, so it doesn't count as my birthday surprise, but still,"

Remus kisses Sirius again in a bid to keep him quite, which is practically impossible.

He does something that he's never done before and he sucks the flesh on the bottom of Sirius' lip. 

It feels...electric.

Remus also feels more nervous than he has ever felt before in his entire life, and then he sees the look on Sirius' face, which is suffused with a soft, angelic expression that he has never seen before.

Sirius is beautiful, always, but his face in that moment is beyond beauty, it's something ethereal and unnatural.

The physical embodiment of pure, unadulterated magic.

Remus shrinks back from him, the only part of their body, which is connected is by their hands.

"Don't, don't stop."

Sirius pleads, his voice cracking deliciously as he speaks.

His palms grow sweaty as he tugs Sirius along the corridor until they finally come to a halt outside the entrance to the Prefects Bathroom.

This is something that he knows that Sirius has wanted to see ever since Remus was given his prefect badge.

Which he still thinks was probably a mistake on Professor Mcgonnigal's part, since Frank Longbottom would make a much better Gryffindor prefect than him.

Look whose babbling now.

He opens the door and drags Sirius in behind him.

"Your hands are all sweaty, can I look now, what's that smell?"

Sirius assaults Remus with a barrage of questions as the pair are enveloped by a cloud of steam that smells of the familiar bergamot and cedar that goes hand in hand with the scents that cling to the bathroom.

"Wait! No, wait!"

Sirius excitedly drags the blindfold away from his eyes, and Remus watches his face closely as the other boy takes in the sight of the bathroom.

"You jammy sod!"

Sirius exclaims with a wide grin.

He let's go as Remus' hand, as he explores the vast cavern of a bathroom.

His delight is infectious and goes some way to calming Remus' nerves as he finds himself laughing at Sirius.

"This isn't a bathroom, this is a bloody swimming pool! No wonder you and Lily, always look so 'satisfied' after your baths."

"It's the privilege of being a good boy."

Remus says, as he rocks backwards and forwards on his heels.

Good boy is definitely the wrong choice of words as Padfoot suddenly rushes through the steam, chasing the clouds excitedly, as he barks his head off until he eventually bounds towards Remus.

There's got to be something a little odd about giving your boyfriend and playful scratch behind the ear as he licks your face.

Odd for anyone else, but Remus regularly takes Padfoot for walks around the Forbidden Forest, so to him at least, this is perfectly normal.

Padfoot's licking gives way to Sirius' insistent mouth, as he quickly turns from a dog back into a boy.

Remus has the feeling of being pushed backwards, until his back meets the cream tiles of the wall.

Sirius finds that mole, the one on his neck, just beneath his jawline, and sucks on it between his teeth.

Remus finds himself losing all grip entirely on his thoughts under Sirius' ministrations.

"Do you want to get in?"

He asks in a voice husky and full of hesitation when they finally break apart.

Sirius' large grey eyes seem much darker than before, his pupils wider.

"I haven't got my trunks with me."

Sirius says, and the expression changing quickly on his face as he realises the general direction of Remus' thoughts.

"Oh."

His kiss swollen mouth forms a perfect circle.

Remus begins to panic.

"But only if you want to, you don't have to, I don't want you to feel any pressure, because I love you and,"

"Look whose babbling now."

Sirius chuckles, as he roughly tugs on the scarlet and gold of his school tie.

So this is happening.

"Get your kit off then."

Sirius tells him, as he drags his damp school shirt over his head.

Remus' fingers pause on the buttons of his on shirt, as it suddenly dawns on him that he is about to get naked.

He hates his body.

It's ugly, full of scratches and scars, bites and stretch marks.

Sirius' body on the other hand is perfect, and has the appearance of having been sculpted from marble.

Sirius is far to skinny however, to ever pass for an actual Greek statue.

"Oh come on Moony, it's nothing I haven't seen before, and believe me I was looking."

He was looking, that thought short circuits some part of Remus' brain, so that as Sirius reaches out and begins to unbutton the front of his shirt for him, he doesn't resist in the slightest.

Sirius leans forward and captures Remus' mouth with his own as he works on the buttons until the shirt finally slips from his thin frame.

There eyes meet, as Sirius' hands slip down towards Remus' belt.

This is a challenge, Sirius is daring him to give way, to give up, to still his probing fingers, but he doesn't, he exhales a shakey breath as Sirius unbuckles his belt.

Remus reaches out and grabs a handful of Sirius' dark wavy hair, as the other boy slides down the zip on the front of his trousers.

There's a rush of warm air as the material slides down to the floor.

"There."

Sirius comments as he pulls back, a mischievous look written over his features.

"That wasn't so hard now was it."

He winks back at him, because they both know how extremely hard everything is in that moment.

Remus can't seem to find his voice, he just stands there with his mouth flapping open and closed.

"I'll let you do your pants."

Sirius grins, slipping out of Remus' grasp, before disappearing into the cloud of steam.

Remus hears a splash, as Sirius presumably dives head first into the bath.

"The water is so warm! This is the best bath ever, it makes me wish I was almost a half decent human being!"

Sirius calls out to him.

Remus pulls down his pants, and takes a quick step forward, which turns out to be something of a mistake as the combination of his belt and trousers wrapped around his legs sends him tumbling face first to the tiled floor.

"How did you manage to break your nose, you only fell over, honestly Moony you are a bit of a liability."

Sirius says, as he tucks Remus' blanket up around his neck, and plants a tender kiss upon his cheek.

They're back in the Gryffindor Tower, safely installed in Remus' bed, as Sirius goes through his pile of birthday presents again.

"This one is from Alecto Carrow, I think it's probably poisoned."

Sirius muses as he lifts the gilt lid on a box of expensive looking chocolates.

"Do you think this means that I'll have to get her something for her birthday?"

He discards Alecto's chocolates and rolls on his side to look at Remus.

"I do love you, you absolute disaster."

He says, as he picks his way carefully around Remus' recently mended, broken nose, to find his lips.

They kiss.

They kiss and Remus feels like crying because none of this is what he had planned.

"I wanted everything to be perfect."

Remus says, as two pieces of bloody tissue hang out of each of his nostrils.

"Well, we are alone now."

Sirius observes with a quirk of his eyebrow.

Remus knows that he's only teasing and yet...and yet...

Things will never be perfect for them, so perhaps he should just make the best of a bad job.

So he does.

He shrugs off his blanket, and drags a slightly bemused looking Sirius underneath him.

"Moony I,"

But Sirius' words are lost in a gasp as Remus pulls down his pants and exposes him to the cool air that circulates around the dormitory.

Sirius stares up into his face with an expression of sheer wonderment as Remus stares down at his cock.

He's hard.

If something as fundamentally unattractive as a penis can be called pretty, then Sirius Black has a very pretty cock.

It's not as long as Remus', but it's still a considerable length and absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.

They both hold their breath as after spitting on his palm, Remus wraps his hand around the length.

"Oh,"

Sirius exhales softly, leaning back into the pillows as Remus starts to move his hand.

"Oh Moony!"

The sight of Sirius' teeth digging into the juicy flesh of his bottom lip, causes Remus to speed up his efforts as he uses the pre-cum, which is leaking from the head of Sirius' cock to lubricate proceedings.

One of Sirius' hands find the top of Remus' shoulder, while the other tightens it grip on his forearm.

"Stop, no, no, please."

Sirius whines, a heavy crease marring his beautiful features.

Remus stops instantly.

His chest feeling suddenly tight.

Sirius opens his eyes and fixes him with a slightly dazed looking stare.

"That's not, I mean, I don't want you to stop."

He says breathlessly.

"I forgot how to use the right words. I meant don't, Merlin, don't ever, ever stop Moony."

Sirius grabs Remus by the front of his shirt and pulls him down into a desperate and pleasing kiss.

"Please Moony, it's my birthday and I've been ever such a good boy."

He teases, because even like this Sirius can't turn it off.

Remus fumbles a little in his new position, but eventually his hand snakes between them.

James excitedly bounds into the dormitory letting the door slam behind him.

"So, this is where you've been hiding, Merlin I feel like I've been looking for you all afternoon."

He says, as he flops down on the edge of Remus' bed and stares at the pair, Remus who has his head buried between the pages of a Muggle book called Agnes Grey, while Sirius is stuffing his face with chocolates, and flipping the lid on the Zippo lighter Peter gave him for his birthday.

"These are from Alecto Carrow, and we're trying to decide if they're poisoned or not."

Sirius says as we waves the chocolate box under James' nose.


	13. The Quidditch Match

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to the brilliant Aqua-Myosotis-Scorpioides for coming up with Frances Walton and Stephen Withers.
> 
> There's a mention of hand jobs in this chapter so if that isn't your jam scroll on by and i'll let you know when it's okay to read again.
> 
> This is my first attempt at writing a Quidditch match so please, please let me know what you think in the comments.

When Sirius opens his eyes it's to the usual sound of Remus' heavy snoring.

Honestly, Remus' snoring is almost as loud as Peter's, which is really, really saying something.

Remus has his back to him, and is hovering dangerously close to the edge of the bed, because Sirius is a bit of a star fish.

No, he's actually a lot of a star fish and he likes to spread out while in bed, which often leaves Remus curled up into a ball and without much in the way of covers.

It hasn't escaped Sirius' notice that Remus has taken to wearing jumpers to bed.

He's wearing a particularly threadbare dark red jumper over his pyjamas right now.

Sirius tucks his arm under his head and listens to his boyfriend's snore as he stares up at the canopy above their heads.

He feels wired.

He always feels like this before a Quidditch match.

Excited and nervous and ready to break some brooms and score some points.

It's only early in the year, but already they are trailing behind joint leaders Slytherin and Hufflepuff.

Hufflepuff have a particularly unfair advantage in their captain/seeker/head boy Benji Fenwick, who has the uncanny ability of catching the snitch just at the prefect time.

It's not fair.

No-one should be that good.

Still they only have to put up with Benji for one more year, after that he can go off and be brilliant somewhere else, preferably not in the Auror Office, where Sirius hopes to shine one day himself.

He'd give a lot to be playing Benji and Hufflepuff today, over Regulus and Slytherin.

The only plus side of playing Regulus in Qudditch is to hear the confusion it causes Amelia Bones when she attempts to comment on their games.

Poor Amelia her life this year will be made particularly hard by the fact that James in his great wisdom has seen fit to appoint the 5th year, Seraphina Blake as their new seeker.

Seraphina who follows Remus around like some pathetic doe eyed lap dog.

No.

No.

They're team mates now, and just because her hair is frizzy and she has the personality of an orange doesn't mean that Sirius has to be nasty about her.

He's not jealous.

Of course he's not jealous.

He's really not...

Poor Amelia faced with two Blacks, a Blake and the Gryffindor beaters, who happen to be two enormous 7th years called Frances Walton and Stephen Withers.

Next to him, he hears Remus snort back into life.

"Alright?"

Sirius asks as he rolls towards Remus, who turns around and rolls in to meet him.

"Yes, you?"

Their hands tangle together between their pillows.

"I'm excited, because my boyfriend is going to watch me play Quidditch."

Sirius exclaims in an excited whisper.

He watches as Remus' face creases with the outline of a warm, indulgent smile.

"This isn't the first time that I've watched you play and also been your boyfriend."

Remus points out with a grin.

"That's true, but we're doing things now, that we didn't do before. It's hot."

Sirius watches at the expression on Remus' face changes to a look of embarrassment, and he catches himself thinking how adorable his boyfriend is.

Since his birthday they haven't actually done all that much, just a bit more wanking, and it's always Remus offering to give him a cheeky hand job and never the other way around, which is starting to get on Sirius nerves a bit.

Not that Remus isn't really, really, really good at wanking, he is, it's just Sirius would also like to have a go at showing him how much he loves him to.

Is it embarrassment?

In his mind Remus has absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about because he has a massive...

"Padfoot, you sort of drifted off then."

Remus' voice breaks Sirius' concentration.

"Hummm, nah, are you gonna wear your Gryffindor scarf for me?"

"Well, I sort of have to, have you seen the state of my neck?"

Sirius prides himself on being a bit of a vampire when it comes to the old love bites.

"If it bothers you, it's nothing that a concealment charm wouldn't fix."

He says, testing the waters of Remus' commitment to getting his neck bitten.

"No, I no, it's fine, I, I like them."

Remus manages to eventually stutter out.

Sirius shifts his weight in the bed so that he's now lying on top of Remus.

"Do you want another one?"

He asks enthusiastically, morning breath be damned.

Remus is just about to open his mouth in reply, when the curtains of his four poster are dragged suddenly apart by James.

"Right, I want to go over a few things before the game."

James address Sirius, seemingly oblivious to everything else.

"Yes, why not join us Prongs."

Sirius hears Remus mumble underneath him.

James obviously hears this to, and takes it as an invitation to sit himself at the foot of their bed.

He glances down at the roll of parchment in his hands.

"So, I've had some ideas about formations,"

"I'm going down to breakfast."

Remus says in a defeated sounding tone of voice as he wiggles out from underneath Sirius.

As soon as Remus is out of bed James squeezes into the spot he has vacated.

Remus hugs his coat tightly around his lanky frame as he follows Peter up the wooden staircase into the Gryffindor stands, where he finds a sea of scarlet and gold.

Mary excitedly waves to them from the crowd, and it's bo surprise that she's been able to secure seats at the front on the stands.

Mary always gets the best seats.

Remus follows Peter into the row, and finds himself sitting next to Lily, who has Dorcus on her left, he gives both girls an awkward smile, and notes that Dorcus looks more downcast than ever, he surmises that this may have something to do with the fact that Frank Longbottom is sitting in the row behind them with his arm wrapped around the Ravenclaw, Amy Floss.

Amy is not the only Ravenclaw in the stands as he also spots Seraphina Blake's best friends Emmeline Vance and Dirk Cresswell.

The Ravenclaws Amy, Emmeline and Dirk are also joined by the Hufflepuff head girl, Clemency Wong, who also happens to be Marlene's girlfriend, and he wonders if Gryffindor is being overrun.

Peter greets Mary with a kiss, as Remus settles himself into his seat, his scarf slipping a little from around his neck as he moves.

"Oh my God Remus, what happened to your neck?"

Lily asks, with an embarrassed giggle.

Dorcus peers over her shoulder to stare at him.

He feels his cheeks begin to colour.

"And you used to say that I was over enthusiastic."

Amy joins in, leaning between Peter and Remus to get a better look at the bruises at his throat.

That's the problem with having his ex-girlfriend hanging around all the time, she knows too much.

"Yes, thank you, Amy."

Remus tugs the fabric of his scarf back up around his neck.

"Remus, doesn't know what he's talking about."

He's not the only one who overhears Frank telling Amy this, Dorcus does too.

"I think I'm going to be sick."

She says fixing Frank with a hard stare, which he appears to ignore.

"Well, I think it's nice, good for you Lupin."

Mary joins in her patronising tone under cut by a genuinely warm smile, as she rests her head against Peter's shoulder.

Thankfully the attention is dragged away from Remus as The Gryffindor Quidditch team explode onto the pitch and their stand erupts with cheers and applause.

Elsie Flowers, a curvy 7th year girl, with tanned skin and a determined expression is the first to fly into place, where she hovers in front of the three goals as keeper.

Elsie has been on the team since her 4th year, and James is having sleepless nights at the prospect of replacing her once she graduates.

The beaters 7th years, Frances Walton and Stephen Withers are the next to find their places in the sky.

Frances is a stocky boy with skin so pale it's almost translucent and a shock of white blonde hair under his helmet, while his partner on and off the pitch Stephen is the exact opposite with skin as dark as ebony.

The only person that Remus is really interested in is Sirius who is always the best flyer, and draws the eye like no-one else.

Or perhaps he just draws Remus' eye like no-one else, as he hears Emmeline and Vance chanting Seraphina's name at the tops of their voices as they unfurl a home made banner, which features the image of the pointy chained Seraphina roaring like a lion.

The Slythern team, which contains Regulus as a chaser and Alecto Carrow as the seeker fly in formation onto the pitch.

Madam Hooch blows her whistle and all hell breaks loose.

Marlene falls to the sand with a heavy thud, curling into a ball and covering her head as her brand new Comit 1980 explodes into splinters after having been smashed to pieces by a bludger.

"I never thought I'd say this, but Rory McKinnon was the best thing that happened to the Slytherin Quidditch team, without him to keep them in check they seem to have gone feral."

Clemency observes as she watches her girlfriend limp off the pitch.

Her fingers tence on the back of Lily's seat, her knuckles turning white as she appears to wrestle with a dissension, finally however she gets up from her seat and rushes out of the stands to meet Marlene.

Frances is the next player to fall out of the sky, but not before his well hit bludger also claims Barty Crouch Jr, who tumbles towards the ground with blood pouring from his mouth.

Both boys lay on the sand bleeding and groaning.

Remus leans forward, his palms growing increasingly sweaty as he watches Sirius and James valiantly attempt to score goals as the game turns into a battle.

Professor Mcgonnigal turns on Professor Slughorn whose moustache wobbles as he tries to defend the actions of his house.

It's in the midst of this chaos that the sound of a girl's scream rips through the stadium.


	14. This Banana Has A Kink In It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I think we can all agree how terrible I am at smut, so don't worry I'm not going to repeat that mistake again.

Sirius does it without thinking, which is his default setting, and where everything goes wrong.

He hears the terrified scream and watches as a blur tumbles down from the iron grey sky above him.

Seraphina Blake, the Gryffindor seeker is falling too fast and from too high up, and yet Sirius doesn't factor in either of these facts as he speeds his broomstick towards her.

The rest of the players on the pitch, the roaring hissing crowd and even Remus fade away as he tracks her decent.

He's never flown so fast in his life, on or off the pitch.

He reaches out and catches her by the hand in mid air and hears the appreciation of the crowd, however all the things that he hasn't considered suddenly come into effect as Seraphina's arm goes straight in his grasp and the weight of her falling body sends with broomstick spinning wildly in the air as she pulls them both downwards.

This was not the ending he had planned, he'd hoped to be a hero and yet he actually thinks that he's made this worst and possibly dislocated her shoulder.

He feels the crack run through his body.

Seraphina keeps screaming this time in fear and pain, while Sirius keeps a desperately tight hold on her hand, hoping against hope that he can rescue them both as they continue to descend.

At some point he's pretty sure that she manages to kick Regulus in the head, which serves him right for being to close.

Perhaps she'll have managed to kick some sense into him although Sirius genuinely doubts that, as his relationship with his brother feels more like a lost cause at this point.

After a good deal of yanking at his broomstick and a display of some phenomenal flying (his own words) Sirius finally manages to steady the ship, and slow their trajectory, so that Seraphina is merely handing underneath him in mid air.

She's still screaming.

"Can you knock that off."

He tells her through gritted teeth, having also failed to account for just how heavy she would be.

She looks up at him with her pale face and pointed chin and honesty he can't see what Remus sees in her.

And although Remus would argue that he has no interest in Seraphina, Sirius knows better, he can tell from the way he doesn't ever look directly at her, and how he tries to avoid her whenever possible.

With every beat of his heart he feels jealous, but at the same time he knows that Remus belongs to him now, just the same way that he belongs to Remus.

Nothing will come between them, especially not the wey faced girl dangling from his hand.

"I think you've broken my arm."

Seraphina sobs pathetically.

"I'm sorry."

She blinks at him, the tears drying in her eyes, in fact she looks up at him with such amazement at his apology that she probably can't feel the pain in her arm.

"I can't hold on, give me your other hand."

Sirius urges her in a hurried tone as her sweat slicked fingers begin to slip through his own.

Seraphina looks as if she may through up, her pale cheeks taking on a greenish tone as she slips something gold into her mouth with her free hand and then throws herself up towards him.

Sirius catches hold of her other hand and then swings her up onto the back of his broom.

He tries not to bristle as she wraps her arm around his waist, her other hand hanging limply against his back.

With Seraphina safely installed on the back of his broom Sirius takes in the chaos on the pitch around them.

He sees Alecto Carrow desperately zip around the stadium as she hunts for the snitch, her bright blonde hair creeping through her helmet in tufts.

Elsie Flowers, the Gryffindor keeper is fending off two of the remaining chasers, Regulus having apparently drifted off after being git in the head.

James streaks towards them, ducking out of the way of a bludger, which sails passed him.

"That was brilliant! Mad, but brilliant!"

He exclaims his face alight with the bright fire of excitement.

Impressing James is still one of the best feelings in the world.

"We were so close, all we needed was the snitch."

James laments bitterly, as the bloom of a bruise starts to form on his cheek.

"Well, the future Mrs Black does seem awfully determined."

Sirius says, referring to Alecto who is still continuing her furious hunt for the snitch.

Seraphina lifts her arm from his waist, while behind him he hears the unmistakable sound of something being expelled from her mouth.

"Do you mean this snitch."

She says as she holds up the struggle snitch that appears to be covered in a thin coating of her saliva.

Madam Hooch's whistle, which has been blowing throughout the match as the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams have committed fowl after fowl, blows for the final time.

"Gryffindor wins!"

Amelia Bones announces from the commentator box.

James takes the snitch from Seraphina's mouth and holds it up for everyone to see as the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw stands explode into cheers.

"Be careful Blake, if you go on like this I might actually start to like you."

Sirius says, as he glances over his shoulder at the girl sat behind him.

"Anyone would think that James Potter single handily won the match."

Lily says, as she settles herself against the wall next to Remus, her green eyes narrowing at the sight of James, as she lifts a bottle of butterbeer to her lips.

Remus tries to view the scene through her eyes, but all he sees is James holding up the snitch in one hand and Seraphina's not broken arm in the other.

To put it simply he can't see what Lily does.

"I thought you two were getting on better, you shared whole conversations during the holidays."

Remus points out, as his thumb rolls against the soggy label on his own bottle of butterbeer.

"It was one week,"

Lily shrugs.

"...and he wasn't like that."

She points at James, who is excitedly whooping away and basking in the adulation of the crowd.

"He's a prat."

Lily concludes with a frown.

Remus is distracted by Sirius, who parts the crowd as if it was The Red Sea, as he strides towards them.

He's still wearing his Quidditch uniform, repleat with helmet, as he unceremoniously slams Remus against the wall and proceeds to shove his tongue down his throat.

Remus hears Lily make a disgusted noise, which he ignores because Sirius is kissing him and that's all he cares about. Ever.

When they finally come up for air Sirius snatches the butterbeer bottle from Remus' grasp, taking a swig as he leans against the wall.

Lily is gone, standing on the other side of the room talking to Dorcus, but sneaking looks at James, every now and then.

"I bet you a knut, this time next year Lily will be in the stands proudly supporting her boyfriend just like you."

Ordinarily Remus would happily take that bed since no-one in their right mind would ever put James Potter and Lily Evans together, but he's not so sure now as things feel different than they did before.

"I'm not that interested in Prongs and his love life."

Sirius half chokes at this statement a stream of butterbeer running from his nose and splattering his Gryffindor Quidditch jumper.

Remus slaps his back hard as Sirius splutters and gasps for breath.

"Don't tell him that."

Sirius croakes once the breath is back in his body.

Despite the coughing fit and the spit, or perhaps because of it, Remus wants nothing more than to be in a room alone with Sirius, which is impossible in their current surroundings.

"Do you want to get out of here?"

He asks boldly, holding out his hand for Sirius to take.

"Yes. Wherever. Always."

Sirius answers slipping his hand into Remus', who is taken aback by the expression of absolute devotion that fills his face and his large grey eyes.

Sometimes looking at Sirius can almost be too much, too much beauty and too much love.

He tugs Sirius out of the Gryffindor Common Room and through the portrait hole, where they pass Frances Walton, Stephen Withers and Elsie Flowers.

Frances is proudly sporting a white bandage wrapped around his head, with Stephen's arm across his waist.

"That bastard Crouch knocked out one of my teeth!"

Frances says displaying his bloody gum for Sirius and Remus to view.

While Remus stares in horror, Sirius appears intrigued by this.

"I hoped it might have done something to improve his looks, but no such luck I'm afraid."

Stephen chuckles, as he plants a kiss on Frances' temple.

Sirius hands Elsie the bottle of butterbeer as they pass, and as soon as they are climbing the moving staircase Remus asks in a low voice.

"That bottle was more spit than butterbeer, I thought that you liked Elsie."

"I do, but what was I supposed to do, throw it over my shoulder? Besides, Flowers knows better than to drink anything i give her."

Remus decides for once to leave this can of flubberworms unopened, instead he glances at the radiant boy by his side who is made a little less radiant by the fact that he's still wearing his ugly leather helmet.

"Can you please take that off now?"

He points to said helmet with the hand that isn't in Sirius'.

Sirius immediately becomes protective over his helmet.

"Moony!"

His voice goes all high pitched and squeaky, which does something inexplicable to Remus.

"I'm keeping the helmet on until I know where you're taking me, what if trip and fall to my doom?"

That's a good point, not the falling to his doom part, but the fact that Remus isn't sure where he's taking Sirius, they are just on the moving staircase going steadily up.

"And that flimsy piece of leather is supposed to protect you from your doom? What about the Astronomy Tower, if I take you there, will you get rid of that bloody helmet?"

Sirius grins.

"In that case I'm definitely keeping it on."

He's such a bloody tease.

The night sky is strewn with diamonds as they make their way into The Astronomy Tower.

Sirius leans a little too far over the rail running around the tower, because he always leans a little too far over the edge of everything, while Remus glances through one of the telescopes that is still in situ.

He stubbornly avoids the sight of the crescent moon and finds instead one of the brighter stars to gaze at.

"Do you think you're family will ever run out of stars to name their children after?"

Remus asks without thinking.

"That happened a good half century ago."

Sirius says with a bark of laughter.

"I'm not even the third Sirius Black, you know."

"Yes, but you are the best one."

When Remus lifts his gaze from the telescope sights Sirius is standing next to him, he grabs him by the front of his shirt and pulls Remus into a kiss.

Desperate and hungry, Sirius Black has absolutely no finesse when it comes to kissing, but who needs finesse?

Sirius tugs at the fabric of his shirt as if he wants to physically climb inside Remus, as if they can never, ever be close enough.

They must be moving because the next thing Remus feels is being pushed against something hard and he guesses that it must be one of the pillars that hold up the tower's roof.

The kiss ends as Sirius unexpectedly drops to his knees in front of Remus.

His large eyes shine as he stares up at Remus, and his pupils are so large that the colour of his eyes seem suddenly closer to black than grey.

"Padfoot,"

"Let me, let me do this."

Sirius interrupts him with a pleading note in his voice.

"I've been practicing,"

Sirius keeps on going his mouth running away with him.

"...on a banana, I even charmed a kink into it."

He finishes with a suggestive wink.

There's a moment, about half a second before they both explode into a fit of laughter.


	15. The Still Missing Tooth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you as always to Aqua_myosotis_scorpioides who has encouraged me to keep going despite all of my self doubt.
> 
> Anyway, I'm not sure who is still reading this, but if you are I hope you enjoy what you read.

Remus is seated at the end of the sofa with his head buried in his thin well thumbed copy of Emily Bronte's poems, while Madam Emma Bovary sits on his lap purring happily away.

Despite it being a Sunday afternoon in late November the Gryffindor Common Room is surprisingly empty with only a few first years, Mary's sister Minnie included, milling around aimlessly.

The reason for the relative peace and quiet is due to Quidditch practice and the various clubs, which most of his friends including Peter are involved in.

He's the only one of The Maurders who has never given into the lure of Quidditch or Gobstones club or any other club.

It's not because he's not a very good flyer, he actually equips himself fairly well on a broomstick, better than most actually, and definitely better than Peter, he'd probably have made a good chaser, but he'd never be able to keep up with the practice because his 'fury little problem' would always get in the way, always.

He also doesn't like crowds.

It's the same problem with Clubs, people would expect him to be places, places other than the hospital wing.

Remus prefers to be alone, not all the time obviously, he'd never want to give up any of his friends for all the world, but sometimes all he needs is a roaring fire, a good book and his cat.

Well that's not all he needs, obviously, not when Sirius Black is your boyfriend.

He reads the same line again, and as if on que the portrait hole bangs open and James, Sirius and the rest of The Gryffindor Quidditch Team enter the common room, sweaty and excitedly chatting away.

Remus notes with a casual observation that Frances Walton still hasn't had his missing tooth fixed, a fact that hasn't seemed to have put his boyfriend Stephen off, and he wonders how he would react if Sirius suddenly came back from a game toothless, does that make him shallow?

It probably makes him a hypocrite since Remus knows he isn't exactly a prize pig himself.

He watches as Frances and Stephen pass by holding hands.

"Is this what you've been doing all afternoon?"

James asks, as he dramatically throws himself into the sofa opposite, looking disheveled, his messy jet black hair lying flat to his head after a shower.

Sirius says nothing, but carefully lifts Madam Emma Bovary up into his arms as he settles himself onto the sofa next to Remus.

"Did you miss me Madam Hell Bitch?"

Sirius asks the cat, who simply mews back at him.

"I wish you wouldn't call her that."

Remus mutters as he glances up from his book.

"It's your fault for giving her such a bloody ridiculous name, honestly Moony, naming things isn't one of your strong points."

Remus is on the point of asking Sirius what he thinks his strong points are when James interrupts him.

"Do you reckon she's got any powers?"

The three of them silently regard Madam Emma Bovary for a moment as she sits in Sirius' arms.

"Well, she's not Wormy's biggest fan, perhaps she can smell the rat on him?"

Both Remus and James' eyes widen at his statement.

"Can you keep it down, not all of us want to end up in Azkaban."

James says in a stage whisper that it so loud it causes Madam Emma Bovary to leap out of Sirius' arms.

"Oh Prongs will you give it a rest, everyone's tea leaves say that they're bound for Azkaban sooner or later, it doesn't mean that it's actually going to happen. Even Azkaban doesn't have that sort of capacity."

"Divination is pure guess work."

Remus observes for what must be the four hundredth time, while Sirius and James roll their eyes and mouth along with his words.

"Exactly that's why Prongs and I are taking it, it's such a doss, all you do is make absolute rubbish up."

Sirius explains, as he proceeds to lay his head in Remus' lap, who in turn tries very hard not to be swayed by his luminous beauty.

James changes the subject as he asks.

"How's my moustache coming along, on a scale of one to Professor Dearborn's?"

Ah Professor Dearborn, it's been a good day and a half since James last mentioned the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, his crush growing ever more evident as the year rolls on.

"Is that what that is, I thought you had a rash."

Remus teases him, while Sirius barks with laughter.

"Piss off the pair of you, don't pretend that you're not trying to grow one."

Actually they are, in fact most of the male population of Hogwarts, even the Slytherin half are attempting to emulate Professor Dearborn's cultivated ginger tinged facial hair, with varying results.

So far Peter is the only one of The Maurders to have given up on the enterprise, while Remus appears to be in the lead with a perminate five o'clock shadow, and the kisses between him and Sirius have turned decidedly stubbley.

"It was his sister!"

Sirius exclaims taking them all by surprise.

Always a hound for gossip he continues.

"I forgot to say before, but that woman we saw Professor Dearborn with at The Three Broomsticks, well I overheard Madam Rosmerta talking about his sister, and that was her, she was in The Daily Prophet a while ago, there was a picture, and she's some sort of curse breaker in Egypt."

Sirius finally pauses for breath.

"His sister."

James repeats the words as if trying them out of his tongue for the first time, his smile getting wider and wider.

"I suppose this means that Professor Mcgonnigal isn't entertaining gentlemen callers at all hours of the day and night."

Remus observes.

"What sort of a hussy do you take my Minnie Mcgonnigal for!"

Sirius exclaims.

Professor Dearborn's DADA lessons have become the highlight of the timetable, with his 'Practical Demonstration Wednesday' a particular delight.

The DADA classroom has been transformed from the austere environment of the previous year to something altogether more inviting, the walls covered in pictures depicting the various curses and jinxes drawn in a style that brings to mind The Gryffindor Common room and the Arthurian Ledgends of yore.

Everything about Professor Dearborn's classroom is aesthetically pleasing and that also includes the teacher himself.

"I hope Professor Dearborn stays for longer than a year."

Verity Smith, the girl who James had shared his first kiss with had been overheard saying to one of her fellow Hufflepuffs.

The Gryffindor and Hufflepuff sixth years have their DADA lessons together, while Ravenclaw and Slytherin are paired off.

James heartily agrees with Verity, and not just because they have exchanged saliva, but because he really does hope that Professor Dearborn does manage to last longer that a year in his post, because already he can't imagine the lessons without him.

Dearborn steps forward the dust speckled light shining through three large windows casts a golden glow through the older, bearded man's strawberry blonde hair.

His hazel coloured tweed robes fit him perfectly, and he greets the class with his usual warm smile.

"I'm not going to waste time by asking if anyone completed the preparatory reading on Patronuses over the summer, because let's face it, it was the summer and I'm sure everyone had much better things to do with their time."

A ripple of laughter runs through the assembled ranks of Gryffindor and Hufflepuffs, while Sirius gives Remus a suggestive wink.

For the first time in his school career Remus had been too busy with Sirius or thinking about Sirius to do any preparatory reading or homework at all.

"But on the off chance, are any of you familiar with what a patronus is?"

Yes, Remus thinks instantly, but keeps this opinion to himself, waiting for someone else to volunteer to answer Dearborn's question.

James is the first to hold up his hand.

"Yes, James."

Dearborn fixes James with an encouraging look with causes his cheeks to colour visibly.

Unlike their other Professors, Dearborn addresses them by their first name and not their surnames.

"Squirrel!"

James squeaks, which causes a peel of laughter to ripple through the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs.

"Go on James."

Dearborn urges him to continue.

Lily glances between James and Dearborn and then back again, a slow smile crossing her features.

"Alice Fortescue has a squirrel for a patronus, Sirius and I saw it when,"

Catching sight of the pained look on Dorcus' face James' voice dies in his throat, as many of the students close in around him to discover more about what had happened on that fateful day.

"Yes James that's an excellent point, it's not the size of your patronus that matters, but the power you put behind it. My sister for instance, lays claim to a scarab beetle as her patronus, but I'd pity any dementor who feels it's wrath."

Dearborn says keen to steer the conversation back to the subject of patronuses.

Sirius gives James a hard jab in the ribs at the mention of Dearborn's sister, but James is so overwhelmed with his praise that he barely notices anything else.

"Ten points of Gryffindor."

James practically swoons.

"Can anyone tell me what a patronus does?"

Remus knows the answer the this question as well, but he lets Marlene respond, a tight knot of worry has begun to gnaw at his insides, because an idea has formed.

"It's a sort of a protector."

Marlene distracts him and earns another ten points for Gryffindor, which should go someway to rectifying the negative points their house is currently languishing in, in the race for the house cup.

Gryffindor have never won the house cup in all the time that Remus has been a student, and that milestone achievement can be laid at the feet of James Potter and Sirius Black.

Dearborn proceeds to ask the class if anyone knows the spell to conjure a patronus and Verity Smith replies in an uncertain voice.

"Is it Expecto Patronum?"

Remus likes Verity, who although not the impossibly brilliant Lily Evans, he thinks would have been a good fit for James.

Verity blushes as she sweeps a strand of long, wavy blonde hair over her shoulder.

Dearborn tells them about 'happy thoughts' being the key to unlocking a patronus and Remus casts a quick glance around at his three friends.

Peter's happy thoughts are the easiest to guess, because they will revolve around two things, food and Mary Macdonald.

Likewise James' list of priorities will read Quidditch, being made Quidditch Captain, that one time Lily smiled at him, and now probably anything Professor Dearborn does or says in his vicinity.

Sirius is harder to gauge, but Remus silently hopes that he finds the space for him.

"Expecto Patronum."

From the tip of Dearborn's wand a bright, silvery unicorn suddenly burst forth and excitedly gallops around the ring of students, shaking out it's glittering mane.

"You're beautiful."

Remus hears James say, who is open mouthed in awe.

"I want a unicorn."

Mary exclaims excitedly.

Her desire to lay claim to a unicorn patronus would make sense since The Macdonald's own a farm that specialises in the harvesting of unicorn tail hair for wand cores.

Dearborn continues on the subject of patronuses, but Remus has already lost the ability to listen, the knot of worry having tightened painfully.

He already knows what his patronus is, or to put it a little simpler, he dreads what it will be.

"Remus."

He comes back to himself and realises that Dearborn is looking at him with an unreadable expression.

Dearborn looks as if he's on the point of saying something more, but appears to decide against it at the last moment.

"Now, for this particular spell we're going to need some room, so will everybody please spread out."

"I don't like being this far away from you."

Remus hears Sirius tell James, who chuckles back and pretends to reach out for his best friend across the devide.

He moves away from his friends, and finds himself standing near Dorcus.

Poor Dorcus, a sentiment he never thought he would think in regards to a girl he's always found annoying, but she has been so transformed by her experiences on the Hogwarts Express that she illicits nothing but his sympathy.

Remus gives her a slight smile, which she appears to to notice as she worries away at her nails with her teeth, looking ever inch the mirror of his own internal turmoil made flesh.

He edges further away from Dorcus, who barely regards him with her large, tired looking eyes.

He ends up with his back against yet another unicorn, this one is worked in white and gold thread on a wall hanging.

Remus takes his wand out of his pocket and rolls the familiar grain of the wood between his fingers trying all the while not to think, not to worry and...the thoughts are driven from his head as he hears a surprised yelp and his gaze is drawn by a silvery shadow, which jumps lightly from Mary's wand.

Of all the people in the room the last of them that Remus would of thought capable of producing something as complex as a full bodied patronus would not have been Mary, who is a very underpowered witch.

Or at least she thinks that she is.

Having spent weeks roaming around the Somerset countryside with only Mary for company he'd noticed things, and a suspicion had started to grow that she was performing wandless magic without knowing it.

Her beauty is like a magic spell, but perhaps because of it, she is crippled by a lack of confidence.

Remus leans forward to get a better look at Mary's patronus which has four long legs, ears that twitch nervously and what appears to be antlers.

"Prongs."

He hears Peter say from the crowd.

"Bloody hell!"

Sirius joins him.

Remus ignores both of them and instead stares at James whose appearance seems utterly crestfallen at this revelation, his hazel eyes darting from the patronus to Peter and back again without ever glancing at Mary.

"Well, you got a horn, I suppose."

Marlene tells Mary, who turns to Dearborn and asks.

"What is it?"

With a slightly disappointed tone of voice.

Dearborn regards the creature for a moment, which stands in the centre of the knot of people and chews on what appears to be a blade of invisible grass.

"It's a gazelle."

Dearborn concludes.

"Not a stag?" 

James frowns, as if still unsure.

Dearborn shakes his head.

"No, it's a gazelle. Congratulations Mary, one hundred points to Gryffindor."

Mary looks as if she might faint, having never been awarded as much as ten points for her house before.

"Thank you, Professor Lovely!"

She gasps out Dearborn's nickname without thinking, and no-one notices as Peter's small eyes narrow in the Professor's direction.


	16. You're My Pretentious Git

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just fluff not plot.

Remus is lying on his back with his head buried between the pages of his Herbology textbook, while Sirius sits up in bed next to him shouting across the cosy tower room at James.

It's times like this when he thinks it might not be easier for them to relocate to Sirius bed, which is next to James', because of course it is, but he has the horrible feeling that he'd end up being woken up night after night by the sound of them talking the days events through over and over again.

He turns the page of his book feeling particularly fragile, having only been discharged from the hospital wing the day before.

Madam Emma Bovary is curled on the bed between him and Sirius dosing lightly, while Peter snores loudly in the four poster bed next to him.

The headboard rattles as Sirius bursts into a fit of hysterical laughter, and as Remus tries to concentrate a pillow comes sailing across the room hitting Sirius in the side of the head and sending Madam Emma Bovary hurtling off to the other side of the room her fluffy white hair standing up on end.

"Bloody hell!"

Sirius exclaims, dragging the pillow away from his face, an expression of surprise still written over his features.

"Frank!"

Remus hears the surprise in James' voice.

He lowers his book down across his chest and raises himself up on his elbows.

"What was that for you miserable git!"

Sirius exclaims with his face contorting into a snarl as he throws the pillow aggressively back at Frank, who catches it with ease.

"Not everyone wants to be kept up by your moronic chatter!"

This outburst is something of a surprise to everyone since Frank is the most friendly and even tempered of any of them in the room.

Sirius glances down at Remus and the two exchange a glance, but James is the one who asks the probing question.

"Is everything alright, Frank?"

He asks tentatively.

Frank says nothing and angrily throws the pillow under his head, thumping it into place, once, twice and then for a third time, before rolling over and going silent.

Remus thinks of Dorcus then, how tired, how miserable, how hunted she always looks now, he'd thought that she was the only one to be affected and yet perhaps Frank is also struggling.

He thinks of Sirius and wonders if he is hiding something from him, but surely he would know since he is the master of keeping fairly sizable secrets.

Sirius grins at him, a proper, open, beautiful smile, which lulls Remus with the thought that whatever happens he'll always know.

"Goodnight Padfoot. Goodnight Moony."

James says with a tired sounding tone to his voice before eventually falling silent like Frank.

From the corner of his gaze Remus watches Sirius as he reaches for his wand and draws the curtains around them with a flick of his wrist.

He replaces his bookmark in the middle of his Herbology textbook, and just manages to slide it onto the table next to his bedside before the curtains of the four poster close up around them, Remus then rolls towards Sirius, who is now lying next to him.

"Was that a non verbal spell Pads, I'm impressed?"

"Shut up you patronising git."

Sirius chuckles, his eyes shining in the gloom of their bed, their world, their shared universe.

Remus stretches forward and plants a sloppy kiss against the side of Sirius' cheek.

"I'm you're patronising git."

He muses, as a wave of tiredness begins to overtake his body.

"Always."

Sirius agrees wholeheartedly, before they both drift off into sleep.

Remus begins to snore, loudly.

"This is a cruel and unusual punishment."

James grumbles under his breath as he scribbles a line across his transfiguration homework and starts all over again.

The four Maurders are sat together, James and Sirius opposite Remus and Peter, in the library, surrounded by piles of books and rolls of parchment.

Remus' quill is leaking ink, which has stained not only his roll of parchment, but also most of his fingers as well, as he pours over his Care of Magical Creatures essay.

Sirius watches him with an indulgent smirk, as he casually slips his foot out of his shoe, and then proceeds to slide said foot up Remus' leg.

Peter suddenly looks up from his homework with a surprised expression written over his featured.

Sirius stops concentrating on the page before him and instead turns his attention to Remus as he slides his foot further up his leg.

Remus doesn't react and the ink from his leaking quill continues to drop and pool against the rough cream of the parchment page.

Hummm.

Sirius cocks his head to the side in exactly the same way that Padfoot does when he has caught the scent of something interesting.

He catches Remus' eye and suggestively waggles his eyebrows in the attempt to illicit any sort of reaction from his boyfriend, who simply frowns back at him with a look of confusion.

Sirius pushes his foot up further.

Peter immediately stands up knocking the table and sending ink wells flying and knocking books to the floor, his face in a deep red flush.

"Merlin Wormtail!"

James complains bitterly, as he holds up the ruined page before him.

"It's not my fault!"

Peter's desperate exclamation earns a 'ssush' from the librarian and the glances of his fellow students.

He sits back down hard rocking the table again.

"It's not my fault,"

Peter repeats again in a whispered tone.

"...blame Padfoot, he's the one whose trying to unzip the front of my trousers with his toes."

James and Remus begin to laugh, while Sirius and Peter simply stare at each other, their cheeks colouring.

"So, that's what all that eyebrow waggling was about."

Remus exclaims as he tries to catch his breath.

"What was Prongs excuse for not coming to the pub, again?"

Remus asks, as he trudges through the snow towards the familiar outline of The Three Broomsticks, his gloved hand entwined in Sirius'.

"It was poor. I think he just wanted to hang around the castle in hopes of catching Professor Dearborn unawares,"

"Unawares, dear lord."

Remus rolls his eyes.

"Unawares,"

Sirius continues, and Remus can't help but notice the glee with which he exposes his canine teeth, the bruise on his neck, which had been made by said teeth, and which is currently being concealed under his scarf, pulsates at the memory.

As if reading his mind Sirius drags Remus roughly into his arms and hums against his scarf.

"We could always go back to the castle."

Sirius' practically purrs out each word.

Yes, oh Merlin yes, are the first thoughts that pop into Remus head, however...

However, however, however...

Why does he have to be such a prat.

"What about Wormtail and Mary, they'll be waiting for us."

Remus says, as he gives the door to The Three Broomsticks a plaintiff glance.

Sirius tightens his grip on Remus and presses into his core, which suddenly feels blistering hot and hard.

He has to be firm.

He must be firm.

"They don't want to see us, not really, they probably want to go off and snog the afternoon away themselves. Come on Moony."

Sirius' eyes shine brightly up at him.

Why is he so bloody weak?

Remus feels himself faltering.

Sirius must be able to see this to, well of course he can, at this point he feels as if Sirius can read his mind...that's not the point...

The point is...

The point is...

Remus loses his grip on the point as Sirius grabs him by the fabric of his scarf and pulls him to a kiss that is so perfect that it practically curls his toes inside his shoes.

Their kissing has definitely improved over the year, Sirius especially, who assaults Remus a lot less with his jabby tongue.

No-one would believe that out of the two of them handsome, confident Sirius, had been the one that was actually rubbish at kissing.

They've been together on and off for almost a year, it will be their first anniversary in December...

Their first anniversary, a wave of panic washes over Remus at that thought and it's like Sirius' birthday all over again where he feels like he needs to make some grand gesture and will probably fail miserably and end up with another broken nose, so he does something unexpected.

"Do you think we have an anniversary?"

Remus asks, as they stand in the snow outside the pub.

Sirius' nose is turn pink in the chill of the breeze.

"Yea course, it's next month, unless you want to count July instead?"

Sirius grins up at him and Remus feels some part, probably his heart, melt.

He is so in love with his friend, his best friend.

"No, let's not memorialise what a prat I was."

Remus concludes and he watches as Sirius' smile widens.

They both laugh, and Sirius leans forward to steal a quick kiss.

"Listen Moony, I've got a fair bit of gold but until I kill my parents with the power of shock, I'm not actually made of money, so don't think that you'll be getting more than one Christmas present out of me."

"Last of the big spenders, Padfoot."

"Exactly,"

Sirius agrees.

"...it's your turn to give me a blowjob."

Remus swallows thickly and feels heat spread up from his neck, rising across his cheeks.

"Alright."

He says in a slightly broken voice.

The expression on Sirius' face is one of utter delight.

"What do I get?"

Remus asks.

Sirius rolls his large eyes.

"Merlin Moony,"

He exclaims in an exasperated tone.

"...you get to give me a blowjob."

Remus can't tell if Sirius is being serious or not, and he doesn't get to delve any deeper, as at that moment he practically sheds his skin as he gets a rough slap on his shoulder.

"Oi, oi lovebirds!"

James appears over Sirius' shoulder, grinning like a loon.

"I thought you were dead set on stalking Dearborn?"

James opens his mouth to answer this question, but just as he does Professor Dearborn walks passed the group, heading in the direction of the pub.

"Oh now, would you look at that."

James covers his mouth with his hand an overblown look of surprise crossing his face, which causes Sirius to collapse in a fit of hysterical laughter.

Remus just stares at them both, as Sirius clings to him to keep himself upright.

"I'm literally freezing my bollocks off out here."

James always has to make some statement about his balls, they're too hot, too cold, too sweaty.

"Why are you just standing around?"

"Moony's going to give me a blowjob for our anniversary."

Remus cringes.

"Brilliant!"

James exclaims before catching Sirius by the crook of his arm and dragging him in the direction of The Three Broomsticks with Remus following on behind.


	17. The Obligatory Jily Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So inspired by the brilliance that is aqua_myosotis_scorpioides I have tried my own had at writing a Jily chapter.
> 
> It's rubbish.

James has never seen them like this before, obviously he's seen his best friends snogging each others faces off on multiple occasions, however Sirius and Remus seem to have been at it since they stepped onto the Hogwarts Express.

The windows of their compartment have steamed up as Messrs Padfoot and Moony kiss noisily on the seats opposite him.

He turns his head to find some distraction or support in the form of his other best friend Peter, only to find the seat next to him empty.

James' eyes boggle.

"How long has Wormtail been AWOL?"

He asks no-one in particular.

Sirius is the one to reply with a meaningless thumbs up.

James roles his eyes and gives in, dragging himself out of his seat and out of the compartment.

He feels a pang as he notices that Sirius and Remus don't even look up as he leaves.

He's not jealous, of course he's not jealous, but he does feel something approaching sadness as he realises that the four of them, The Maurders, are not the centre of each others worlds anymore, well apart from Sirius and Remus who appear very much to still be the centre of each others world.

Is this what growing up feels like, if so James Fleamont Potter doesn't like it.

He doesn't want things to change.

James wanders his way down the train's long corridor with no real direction other than to possibly find Peter, who he doesn't doubt is probably with his girlfriend Mary.

As he aimlessly walks along he passes a gaggle of Hufflepuffs, which include the head boy, Benji Fenwick, who has his arm wrapped around the neck of Verity Smith, a pretty blonde girl.

Verity happens to be the only girl that James has thus far ever kissed and to be honest he'd been so drunk at the time he can barely remember it, which is a shame, since everyone should at least be able to recall their first kiss.

Verity gives James a sweet smile, while Benji signs him a quick 'hello', which he returns with a grin.

Once Benji, Verity and their fellow Hufflepuffs have disappeared into a compartment James sees a familiar figure standing alone at the end of the corridor.

He can't help himself.

"Evans!"

He exclaims hurrying towards Lily.

"Oh it's you, look I'm not really in the mood."

Lily says, without even looking at him.

James is on the point of countering her argument when he looks at her properly, and notices for the first time how pale she looks, and how hard she is trying to cover up the fact that she has been crying.

Something deep inside his chest seizes at the sight thought, the sight, of Lily Evans in tears.

"What's wrong, what's happened? What can I do?"

He asks instinctively.

Lily's response is to continue to stare out of one of the small square windows watching as the scenery rushes past them in a blur of green and grey.

He hears her sigh.

"My sister Petunia is getting married."

She wipes a tear away from her cheek with the back of her hand and when she turns to look at him again she's smiling that beautiful smile of hers that never fails to lift James' spirits.

He feels himself returning her smile with interest.

"Let me guess you've seen your bridesmaid dress?"

He's unable to stop himself from cracking a joke, however luckily for him Lily laughs.

"Not yet, but you just know that thing is going to be lilac."

She says with a resigned little grin.

"Everything is changing."

She says taking him suddenly by surprise, and he knows how she feels.

"Next year is our last,"

"I hope not."

Lily ignores his interruption and continues on.

"...and then what? What happens after school? I'm not ready to decide what I want to do with the rest of my life, and Petunia, I'm not ready to be an aunt..."

Lily concludes with a shaky sounding.

"I'm not ready."

Desperately James would like to be like Benji and wrap his arm around Lily's shoulders, however he holds himself back knowing that it's the last thing that she would want him to do.

So instead he elbows her gently in the side, because if he can't be her boyfriend, and that dream seems to be slipping further and further out of his view, then he wants to be her friend more than anything.

Her mood seems to lift.

"I'm being left behind. Padfoot and Moony barely looked up from their snog-a-thon when I walked out of our compartment, and I can only assume that Peter is off with Mary,"

"He is."

Lily confirms.

"They're sitting in our compartment."

"Of course he is that sneaky little rat. I could set myself on fire at this point and I doubt any of them would notice for at least a week."

James observes bitterly.

"I'd notice,"

Lily pipes up.

"...if you set yourself on fire, I would notice."

She elbows him back.

"Oh Evans, that's very sweet of you to say."

"The smell alone would be terrible."

They laugh together.


	18. Until The Sky Falls Down On Us

The dormitory smells empty as the five boys barge their way through the small door.

Cold and devoid of the usual stench of sweaty socks and moldy apple cores, the small oddly shaped room almost seems inhabitable and clean.

Madam Emma Bovary and Frank's toad sit in their travelling cages waiting to be released from their their imprisonment.

And as Remus unhooks the front of her cage, the small white cat immediately leaps out of her wicker confines and into the middle of his bed, casting a hiss at Peter before she begins to groom herself after her long journey.

"See, I told you that she hates me." Peter says, in a pitiful sounding voice as he jabs a finger at the cat.

"That's rubbish, she can just tell what a little rat you are." Sirius chimes in gleefully, as he settles himself on the edge of what use to be Remus' bed, but what has quickly turned into their bed. 

Peter appears to physically shrink from the word rat, as he points over to Frank who is busily unpacking his trunk.

Sirius gives this little observation a shrug, before producing from the pocket of his robes a long strand of strawberry laces.

"I forgot I'd left these in here." He grins as he begins to chew happily away on the sweets.

"You're disgusting." Remus tells with with an unreadable expression.

"You absolutely love it." Sirius responds, and Remus finds himself lost for words because he really, really does, and the blush that creeps up from his neck speaks volumes.

"Slow down Pads, you've just had a seven course dinner, you'll end up the size of Professor Slughorn if you're not careful." James tells him in a tone that is filled with mirth.

Sirius pauses mid chew to pat the front of his robes.

"Nonsense, there's never been a Black that wasn't as thin as a rake. It's all in the genes, along with inherited insanity."

"That sounds about right." Frank chuckles.

Sirius' gaze finds Remus' and the pair share a knowing look, Remus having first had the chance at Christmas to bear witness to The Black family at home.

"You'd still love me though." Sirius asks as he ignores Frank and peers around Remus, his actual boyfriend, to address James.

Remus rolls his eyes and proceeds to pull his Dad's old blanket, which rather awkwardly is emblazoned with the faded Crest of Ravenclaw house and lays it down on his bed, where Sirius eyes it cautiously, but says nothing.

"Well I dunno," James muses, as he shoves his hands in both of his pockets and rocks on the balls of his feet.

"...Lily and I did share a moment on the train and,"

"Oh Merlin, here we go." Peter complains interrupting James mid flow.

In retaliation James pulls one of his hands out of his pocket and makes a particular rude hand gesture, which everyone including Peter himself laughs at.

"It was a moment, she didn't hex me, honestly!"

"Of course it was mate, we believe you." Sirius tells his friend in a sympathetic voice.

"I don't." Frank pipes up with a wide smile, as he climbs into his pyjama bottoms.

"No listen, look," James' whining is interrupted by an incessant tap on the glass against the dormitory window.

All five boys stare at one another with their grins frozen across their faces.

"Perhaps it's a love note from, Lily?" Frank is the first to speak.

"Perhaps it's a love note from, Dorcus." James counters with a knowing smirk as he thrusts open the window and a small black owl flaps into the room.

Remus spots the wide eyed look of shock that Frank shoots not at the owl, but at James, and he has the horrible feeling that he's on the outside of something.

He searches for Sirius' gaze, but notices the way his boyfriend studiously evades his look.

He is on the outside, they're keeping something from him, Sirius and James and Frank.

And then it clicks the reason why Frank and Dorcus had been with James and Sirius during The Death Eaters attack on the train.

But Frank wouldn't really cheat on Amy would he?

Remus feels a sudden wave of responsibility towards his ex girlfriend.

"It's from Professor Mcgonnigal, she wants to see Padfoot in her office now." Peter explains, as he hands the roll of parchment that had been attached to the owl's leg and hands it to Sirius.

Remus glances over Sirius' shoulder to read the contents of the note for himself as the owl flaps out of the window again into the freezing January rain.

"How have you managed to get yourself expelled already?" James asks as he closes the window.

Remus can't help but notice how much paler Sirius has turned at the mention of being expelled, and he rests his hand against his shoulder in an attempt to reassure him.

Sirius stumbles out of Professor Mcgonnigal's office, dazed.

He feels the worn leather of the jacket between his hands, and then he just stands there in the corridor blinking at nothing as a surge of emotions spiral through him.

He wants to laugh.

He wants to do a dance.

He wants to shed his skin turn into Padfoot and do a victory lap of the castle.

And then he feels the leather between his fingers and he feels a sudden pang of guilt.

Suddenly he wants to see Remus because, well because Remus is his boyfriend and why wouldn't he want to see him.

"Pads."

Then as if on que he hears his name, and watches as Remus steps out from the shadows.

"Isn't it a bit late for you to be wandering the halls?" Sirius asks with a wide smile, as he bounds towards the slightly taller, slightly younger boy.

"Prefects privilege, besides I'm here to escort you back to the common room." Remus points to the prefect badge that has been pinned to the front of his ratty brown dressing gown.

Sirius raises himself up onto the tips of his toes and pulls the other boy into a kiss, the leather jacket pressing between them.

"How would you fancy escorting me somewhere else?" He asks with a teasing smile on his swollen lips once the kissing has stopped.

He notices the cautious glance that Remus gives the door of Professor Mcgonnigal's office.

"Did you have anywhere particular in mind?" Remus whispers.

"The Astronomy Tower?" Sirius asks hopefully.

His heart does a little leap as Remus slides his rough hand into Sirius' grasp.

For as long as he lives Sirius Black will never get tired of holding Remus Lupin's hand.

The midnight blue sky is strewn with the lights of a carpet of stars.

A faint crescent moon shines down upon them.

A flame erupts from the tip of Sirius' wand as he lights the Muggle cigarette that is hanging out of the corner of his mouth.

Remus studies the packet that had fallen out of the pocket of the leather jacket turning it over and over in his hands.

The smoke hits the back of Sirius' throat causing him to dissolve into hacking coughs.

"This is disgusting." He frowns his eyes watering as he pulls the cigarette from his mouth and throws it over the edge of the tower, the amber ember falling into the darkest oblivion.

"And he really left you everything, your Uncle?" Remus asks, as he hands Sirius back the packet of cigarettes.

"Yeah, I know it's wild, I never even met him. He must really have hated my Mum." Sirius says, his voice still thick from coughing.

"What did he die of?" Remus asks somewhat morbidly in Sirius' opinion.

"Cancer, too many of these most likely." Sirius replies.

"Can I have one of those?"

Sirius shrugs and let's him take the packet from his lap, watching with interest as Remus drags a cigarette and lights the tip with his wand.

Nothing happens.

No explosive coughing fit.

No watery eyes.

Remus just sits there, next to him casually exhaling a cloud of blue tinged grey smoke from his nostrils.

"You know what this means?" Sirius says with an attempt at a steady voice.

Remus shakes his head and takes another drag.

"I won't have to marry Alecto Carrow. I'm the master of my own destiny."

Saying the words out loud give Sirius a sudden rush of excitement and then he finds Remus' lips against his own and notices how different his mouth tastes after the fag.


	19. Noodles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If anyone is interested I'm on tumblr where I have 8 friends, 3 of which are porn bots.  
> @tabithatwitchit 
> 
> Pop in and say hello...

Remus shivers against the cheap fabric of his old threadbare coat as his gloved fingers fumble with the pages of his book, while his other hand taps out the ash of his cigarette.

He's taken to this old smoking lark rather better than Sirius in fact, Sirius has allowed him to keep his late Uncle's packet of cigarettes.

A packet, which appears to have been charmed to never empty.

He glances up from the page to stare out over the expanse of white and grey spread out before him, the dark outline of The Shrieking Shack hovering in the distance, like a rotten tooth spoiling a perfect smile.

But it's his rotten tooth, and the sight of the haphazard building fills him with a sudden warmth and happiness at the thought of his three best friends.

Growing up Remus had always longed for a best friend, someone he could share everything with including his condition and fate had conspired to be kind to him for once, and now he has three.

"That's an awfully grim prospect." The sound of a familiar female voice punctures the bubble of his thoughts.

Remus turns his head and finds himself staring into the pretty, tanned face of Amy Floss.

He takes another drag of his cigarette and folds his book back into his pocket.

"Do you think it's haunted?" Amy asks as she squints out towards the building.

"Oh undoubtedly." He lies.

As if satisfied by this answer Amy seats herself on the rock next to Remus, the sides of their bodies pressing against each other.

It's only after she is sitting next to him does Remus remember that this exact rock, on this exact, overlooking this exact view is the site of their very first kiss.

"Where are the others, where's Sirius?" Amy asks, as her slender tanned fingers rake through the fake, white fur of the muff on her lap.

The last time Remus had seen James he had been hanging off Professor Dearborn's every word in The Three Broomsticks.

Peter will be with Mary, because Peter is always with Mary these days.

But he senses that it's not really the whereabouts of James or Peter that Amy is interested in, but rather Sirius' current location.

"Sirius is meeting his cousin in The Three Broomsticks." Remus says.

"Is it one of the mad ones?" Amy replies with a note of concern in her voice.

Remus tries very hard to stifle a laugh and not point out that all of Sirius' relatives without exception are mad.

"No, it's the one who married the Muggleborn." Remus watches something in Amy's face tense slightly at the mention of the word Muggleborn, after all she sits in a fairly awkward position having been adopted by Muggles as a baby no-one quite knows what her blood status is.

Although Remus has the feeling that Amy would have preferred to have been born a Muggle.

"Are you waiting for Frank?" Remus asks, changing the subject.

"I was. He was meant to meet me in Madam Puddifoot's and hour ago."

Remus suddenly feels extremely angry towards the normally friendly and dependable Frank.

He wonders if he should just tell her the truth about Frank and Dorcus.

"I don't think it's working." Amy muses.

"I don't think that I'm any good with boys." The Ravenclaw admits with a heavy sounding sigh.

"That's not true, you've just been unlucky." Remus wraps one arm around her narrow shoulders.

"You really love Sirius don't you?" Amy rests her head lightly on his shoulder, and he smells the familiar scent of her heavy jasmine flower perfume.

"Yes, I really love Sirius." He responds without hesitation, because he does really love Sirius Black.

"That's a shame." She says with a sigh.

Remus realises that he's wandered into dangerous territory, and immediately stands up.

"Why don't we go to the pub, I'll buy you a pint and we can sumptuously watch Sirius with his not so mad cousin." He suggests hopefully discarding his cigarette and holding his gloved hand out for Amy.

"That sounds like fun." She giggles, as she lets him pull her to her feet.

"I wonder if she as pretty as Sirius?" Amy asks, as she slips her arm into the crook of Remus' and he drags her off in the direction of the pub.


	20. Uncle Alphard May He Rest In Pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm still on tumblr as @tabithatwitchit and I have gained one new porn bots follower...go me!

Sirius shifts awkwardly in his seat, his eyes flick every now and then to the door of The Three Broomsticks, as he waits nervously for the cousin he hasn't seen since he was eleven.

He's not sure why he sent the owl to Andromeda beyond the fact that she'd lived at their Uncle Alphard's villa in Ibiza after running away with Ted Tonks.

He's on the point of getting up from his seat and leaving entirely when Andromeda breezes into the pub.

She looks so much like her sister, Sirius' cousin Bellatrix, that for one horrible moment he wonders if it is in fact Bella.

But then she smiles at him, and he notices the worn denim jacket that she's wearing and he knows that it's the right cousin.

"Sirius, when did you get so tall!" Andromeda exclaims as she hold out her arms and drags him into a warm and exuberant hug.

She ruffles her hand through his hair and the flops into the vacant chair opposite him.

And then for the longest time Sirius doesn't know what to say to her, so he sits in silence staring and wishing that he hadn't dragged her all this way.

"How's Ted?" He hears himself asking.

Everything feels horribly stilted.

"Excellent." Andromeda replies with a grin, that reminds him of just how much he has missed her presence.

"And ah, Nymphadora, I still can't believe you called your daughter that." He says without thinking.

"Hey," She clips him across the arm with the back of her hand.

"Nymphadora is a lovely name." Andromeda concludes.

"I just always had the image of you as the great white sheep of the Black family, and there you go betraying all those credentials by naming you daughter after out Great Grandmother." He leans back in his chair and chuckles.

"I forgot you had such a spiteful mouth." Andromeda giggles back in response, as the easy dynamic between them slips back into place and it feels as if they have never been apart.

"It's so good to see you little cus." She says reaches across the table and takes one of his hands in her own.

Remus holds the door of The Three Broomsticks from Amy to walk through, and as he follows in behind her the first person, the only person that he sees is Sirius.

Who has his head thrown back mid laugh.

Sirius is so beautiful that everytime Remus sees him it takes his breath away.

"Moony!" 

He snaps out of his reverie as he hears his name being called out from across the pub where James, Peter and Mary all sit in front of the fire.

"I'll get the drinks." Amy offers, as she waves at the trio, who all grin back at her.

"No, Amy I,"

"Oh shut up, I'll be back in a minute." She cuts him off and marches off in the direction of the bar, where she is created by a crowd of fellow Ravenclaws.

"Amy has gone to get us a round, you don't mind if she joins us do you?" Remus asks, as he settles himself into the empty seat next to Peter.

"The more the merrier!" James exclaims happily.

"It's been ages since Amy use to hang around with us." Peter adds.

While Mary twists a golden strand of hair between her fingers and gives her boyfriend a pointed look, which he pretends to ignore.

Remus remembers with horrible clarity just how embarrassing his friends were during the short period that he had gone out with Amy, with Sirius being the worst offender of the bunch.

And how Peter had avoided all of that by keeping his relationship with Mary a secret for such a long time that she was practically part of the furniture before anyone had noticed.

"How's it going?" Remus leans into the table to ask his friends, as he steals a quick glance in Sirius' direction.

There eyes meet briefly, and he feels an electric pulse race along his spine.

"Well, she was late, and it almost looked as if Padfoot was about to leave, but then she turned up and," James begins to explain pulling Remus into the conversation, until Mary interrupts him.

"They look identical." She muses, her large crystal blue eyes narrowing as she gazes off in the direction of Sirius and his cousin, who is the spitting image of Bellatrix Lestrange.

"They all look the same." He adds without thinking, recalling the visit he had paid to Grimmald Place on Christmas Eve.

"How do you know that?" James asks with a bemused grin.

Remus is just on the point of floundering for an answer when Amy suddenly appears at the table bearing a tray laden with five pints of foaming tankers.

Remus immediately gets to his feet to help her, but James, chivalrous to the last is there before he has the chance, and he sits back down in his seat.

Amy settles herself between him and James, obscuring his view of Sirius.

"I see Alphard left you his jacket as well, I like what you've done with it." Andromeda says, as she points towards the well worn leather jacket that Sirius is wearing, which is now resplendent with stars that twist and spin and explode at random intervals.

"My friend Mary did the design." Sirius says, as he leans against the back of his chair and points Mary out, and as he does so he catches Remus' eye.

They stare at one another for longer than they probably should and the rest of the pub fades away into nothing but the two of them.

"Well she is extremely talented and very beautiful, you two must make quite the pair." Andromeda observes and it takes more than a shameful minute for him to realise what she means.

He shakes his head and then tells her.

"Remus Lupin is my boyfriend, the one with the scars." Sirius feels uncomfortable about referring to Remus as 'the one with the scars', because he never sees him like that, the scars are yet another thing that has faded into the background.

He watches Andromeda's face carefully as she looks at Remus.

"He seems nice." She concludes.

"Why did Alphard leave me all his money, I never met him, you knew him better than me, the money should be yours." Sirius' question pitches them both off balance.

"What was he like?" He asks.

"Sad." Andromeda answers, and it is the last thing that he expects her to say about their Uncle.

The smile, which she has been holding in place slips.

"Its not easy to leave everyone behind."

"You did it." Sirius says.

"That's how I know. I love Ted, I love our life together, and I know that our family is comprised of some of the most despicable people that I've ever met, but sometimes I just really want my Mum, you know?"

He doesn't, but he nods along anyway.

"They've walked passed Nymphadora and I in Diagon Alley and they've never even looked at her, their own Granddaughter, their only Grandchild."

Sirius feels suddenly at a loss as he watches her large grey eyes fill with tears.

But she doesn't cry, because deep down she's a daughter of the noble house of Black and no Black would ever lower themselves as to be seen crying in public.

"I think he left you his money because he really hates your Mother, and he probably wanted to go to his grave knowing that leaving you an inheritance would utterly confound her." Andromeda says once she has recovered herself enough to speak.

"I like the sound of him."

"I thought you might." She agrees, her smile slowly returning.

Sirius leans forward in his seat and asks in a low whisper.

"I want you to do something for me."

"Sssh, here he comes." 

Sirius hears Peter say in a voice that can probably be heard half way across the pub.

"How did it go then?" James asks, from behind his pint glass.

Sirius ignores both of them as he stares down at Amy Floss who is definitely sitting in his chair.

The pretty, dark skinned girl shifts awkwardly under his gaze but doesn't move.

"Padfoot." Remus says in a tone of voice that he knows far to well.

And just to confound them all Sirius settles himself in James lap, slinging one arm over his best friend's shoulders.

James appears utterly delighted by this turn of events and hands him his pint of butterbeer to finish off, which Sirius does in two large gulps.

"I've decided to buy a flat."

He tells James, Remus, Peter, Mary and Amy.


	21. The Incidentals (Stephen, Frances & Benji)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this is a bit different, I have decided to add the odd chapter focusing on some of the supporting cast.
> 
> So there are no Maurders or Wolfstar in this chapter, but I do hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Let me know what you think in the comments.
> 
> And I'm still on tumblr @tabithatwitchit

"It." 

Stephen Withers holds up one finger, as he clutches desperately at the painful stitch in his side.

He breathes heavily, having just spent the previous hour racing around the castle and grounds in search of his boyfriend, but finally, finally he has found him deep in conversation with Benji Fenwick.

Stephen watches with wide eyes as Frances and Benji turn in their seats to stare at him, amusement playing over their festures.

"Came!" He exclaims excitedly, as he waves a letter in his other hand.

Frances immediately reaches up and snatches the better from his grasp perusing the contents.

"Wonderful, I'm going to be a Quidditch widow." He grins, as he hands the letter to Benji.

Stephen ruffles his hands through Frances blonde hair as he settles himself into one of the seats on the empty Quidditch stand next to him.

"Don't get your hopes up, as if I'd marry you." He chuckles.

Although he definitely can see himself settling down with Frances, despite how young they are.

"Congratulations." Benji signs, a speech bubble appearing over his head.

"It's just a try out." Stephen says, trying not to get carried away with the excitement that he feels, although that's pretty pointless since his heart is beating like mad at the thought of possibly playing Quidditch professionally.

Yes, it's The Chudley Canons, the worst team in the league, but still, he feels as if all his dreams are coming true.

He looks at the boy sitting next to him, his utterly beautiful friend and can't help but smile.

"That'll be one long commute New York to wherever The Canons play. Where is their ground?" Frances muses, and Stephen rolls his eyes, while Benji shrugs.

Stephen doesn't know how to answer that question so he side steps it.

"You've got an apprenticeship with Florean Fortescue, I think you're getting a bit ahead of yourself babe." 

And before Frances has the chance to counter this with his big dreams about cooking for rich wizards and witches in New York, he turns to Benji and mouths.

"Have you heard anything from The Ministry yet?"

Benji's face lights up.

"I've got an interview at the Aurors Office in August." The speech bubble says above his head.

Stephen feels suddenly uneasy, The War, the one they never talk about, but is happening all around them all the time intrudes suddenly as he thinks of his friend's future career.

Frances is Muggleborn, they never talk about it, why would they, Stephen's Dad is a Muggle after all so it's not as if he can judge, but still it all feels horribly real.

They're going to get a flat in London him and Frances and Benji and Elsie Flowers after they leave school.

He flounders for something to say, but is interrupted by a particular loud shout, which comes from the empty Quidditch pitch.

"Amy!"

He leans forward in his seat to watch Frank Longbottom chasing after a pretty, dark haired Asian girl.

"What's going on?" Benji asks, as the words float into place above him.

"I wouldn't mind a bit of Frank, he's got nice legs." Frances muses, and Stephen gives him some serious side eye.

"Oh really." Stephen folds his arms tightly across his chest as he watches Frank Longbottom and the girl argue.

"Don't be daft you can't shag Frank, you've got the same name." Benji points out, although Stephen would much rather him to have said it was because he had a boyfriend, but still.

"Young Benjamin makes a good point." Stephen snorts with laughter leaning across Frances to clap Benji on the shoulder.

"Well at least that not something you're ever going to need to worry about, how is Verity Smith?" Frances asks the freckled, red head who immediately turns as bright as a tomato at the mention of the 6th year Hufflepuff's name.

"She's not my girlfriend." Benji shrugs.

"Of course she's not." Frances winks at Stephen.

"Of course she's not." Stephen agrees, but adds "yet."

The three boys sit in the Quidditch stands and laugh.


	22. All I Needed Was The Love You Gave (Emmeline, Dirk, Seraphina and Amy)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuing my B role of character stories.
> 
> Warning this is a Muggle Studies sex education lesson and there are mentions of underage shenanigans.
> 
> Emmeline is such a Ravenclaw.

"I think my banana has developed a fault." Emmeline observes

"Professor Appleby," She exclaims holding up her hand to attract their Muggle studies professor.

Seraphina Blake feels her cheeks glow beacon red with embarrassment as the elderly Professor leans over their desk.

"Yes, me Vance, how can I assist you?" Appleby asks.

"There's something wrong with my banana this prophylactic," Emmeline holds up the condom for added emphasis.

"...won't fit onto it correctly." She concludes, while on the other side of her Dirk Cresswell slips into a hysterical laughing fit.

"Perhaps it would be best to read the instructions again carefully, Miss Vance." Appleby says without missing a beat, before turning his attention to another desk.

"You just don't know how to do it." Amy Floss chips in from her seat next to Dirk, and Seraphina notes that her banana is perfectly sheathed.

"You're not doing much better." Seraphina giggles as she points to Dirk's banana.

"Well, I've never put one of myself have I." Dirk points out in his South London drawl.

The four students fall silent until Amy pipes up.

"Hang on, that sort of implies that someone else has done it for you?"

Dirk's eyes flick briefly in Emmeline's direction, but she appears not to notice, Seraphina however does spot the brief hesitation.

"Everything my Mother says about boys is true, that's disgusting. You're only 14!" The bridge of Amy's nose wrinkles as she spits out the words.

The smile on Dirk's face slips and he ruffles his hand through the back of his hair.

"Oh don't get jealous Flossy, just because Longbottom dumped you," Emmeline rounds on Amy, but the other girl cuts her off with a harsh whisper.

"He did not dump me, I dumped him."

Amy continues on, but somewhere Seraphina stops listening because, because, because, they've always done everything as a trio, and now Emmeline and Dirk have obviously gone and had sex and left her out.

She notices the apologetic way Dirk is staring at her, as if he wants to say something but can't bring himself to.

"Did you really have sex?" She asks Dirk, but her question is really for the two of them.

"It's not," Dirk begins to explain, but once again Amy interrupts.

"Wait, you and her!" She waves a finger between Emmeline and Dirk, before throwing her head back with a spiteful laugh.

Emmeline's face softens as she looks at her other best friend.

"We were going to tell you." She says.

"I thought we weren't telling people?" Dirk frowns.

"Are you," Seraphina struggles to articulate the words feeling oddly sick.

"...are you a couple?" She concludes.

Emmeline and Dirk's eyes both widen at this suggestion.

"Absolutely not." They both agree at the same time.

They then proceeded to laugh.

"It was just an experiment. I was bored." Emmeline reassures Seraphina.

"That's really great to hear, thanks for that." Dirk mutters under his breath.

Emmeline reaches out and takes both Seraphina's hands in her own and says in the most sincere voice she can muster.

"The next time that Dirk and I have sex I promise that you will be the first to know. You can watch if you like."

There's a beat that lasts longer than it probably should and then the trio immediately begin to giggle uncontrollably again.

"That's alright then." Seraphina agrees.

"I forgot how weird you three are." Amy grumbles.


	23. The Staunton Lick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Smut ahoy, but probably not from the couple that you were expecting it from.
> 
> This is my first proper, proper go at smut and I know it's terrible, but please let me know how bad you think it is in the comments or not.
> 
> Btw I'm still on tumblr @tabithatwitchit

Rory sits on the sofa and lights another cigarette.

It feels as if he's been sitting in the same place for days, but in honesty he's been to work, and sat in his kitchen, and eaten food, and lived his perfectly normal, perfectly boring life.

He's smoking too much.

And he's so bloody bored.

Bored of everything.

He taps out the ash from his cigarette and frowns at the wall.

He should, he should, he should...do something, anything, but all he feels is listless.

Rory feels like a teenager, like his younger sister Marlene, when all he can think of is a boy, not that she ever thinks of boys.

He's losing the point again.

Amycus.

All he can think of is Amycus, and how he is the only point, the point to everything.

How did he become this?

When?

It's been three months, three long months and nothing, nothing seems to be getting any better.

They'd questioned him in the Aurors Office for what felt like days, but could only have been a few hours until his parents had come to collect him.

All the questions were the same.

Where was Amycus Carrow?

Had he known anything about the attack on the train?

How long had Amycus' Grandmother been ill, and why had he only decided to visit her now?

Was Amycus Carrow a Death Eater?

Was he a Death Eater?

Is he a Death Eater?

Not denouncing something you know to be wrong makes you complicit.

And he does know that it's wrong, that Amycus' stance on Muggleborns is bigoted.

On his Mum's side Rory's Grandfather is Muggleborn and his Gran had been a Muggle.

And yet his lover would happily rob his Grandfather of his magic, break his wand, have him sent to Azkaban and then what?

What happens when Azkaban is packed to capacity with Muggleborns, what will they do with them then?

Hate is like an ink spot, which spreads from the centre and eventually consumes all about it.

But Rory knows Amycus, he knows him, he knows that deep down inside he has a reservoir of love.

The love that he shows to his Mother, his younger sister and even him.

Rory isn't a fool, he knows that there's no turning Amycus to the light, but perhaps they could live their lives in a brighter shade of grey.

It all just...

Rory doesn't finish that thought as his ears prick up at the sound of a sudden pop, followed by a whoosh.

The hairs on his arms stand up on end.

He discards his cigarette and immediately moves from the sofa in the living room to the kitchen.

His heart is pounding.

And then he sees him, Amycus standing in the kitchen that they share, looking honey blonde and tanned within and inch of his life.

It takes him a moment because he's never seen Amycus look anything other than as pale as pasteurized milk, and he likes it.

"Fuck, you're a sight for sore eyes." Are the first words that leave Amycus' mouth.

They meet in the middle of the room and Rory thinks of nothing as he feels a strong pair of hands on the back of his head and he drags Amycus forward into kiss.

His lips taste like salt, and fresh oranges, and travel.

As they kiss, he finds himself being pushed backwards, until he hits the table with the back of his legs.

His urgent fingers pull at the buttons, which run down the front of Amycus' shirt, while he feels him tug at his belt.

It's times like this when he's glad that they have a no shoes in the flat policy as his jeans fall easily to the floor and he steps out of them.

He half climbs and is half pushed backwards by Amycus, onto the worn and uneven butchers block they use as a table.

This is the longest that they have ever been apart, too long.

"I've missed you." Amycus' utters the words against his lips.

"Have you missed me?" His mouth slips to Rory's neck, and he can't help but arch back as he feels Amycus' skillfull hands slide down his body.

"McKinnon, I asked you a question." His teeth rake over the skin of Rory's neck, and then he bites down hard.

"Yes!" Rory cries out.

Yes!

Yes!

Always, yes!

"Fuck." His eyes screw up against the tight pain as Amycus works him open with spit as the only lubrication.

It's so raw, and reminds him of their time at school, of taking Amycus' virginity.

No one would believe that, but just because no one would believe it doesn't mean that it's not true.

"I love you, McKinnon." He thinks he hears him say, but it all gets lost as the head of his cock gets lost down Amycus' throat.

And the pain quickly mixes with pleasure.

No one else knows how to touch him like this.

The suck of Amycus' mouth is too much, too perfect, after far, far too long, and Rory finds himself on the precipice.

He drags his hands through Amycus' sun bleached hair, pulling him closer and listening to the sound of his gag.

"Amycus I," He tries to speak, but gets overwhelmed by the sheer blissful rush of his own orgasm.

He feels like a teenage boy blowing his load after a quick pump, but oh Merlin!

Rory has just enough wherewithal to glance down to watch Amycus swallow him down.

"Please." He pleads in a breathless voice, as his body still shudders with tendrils of pleasure.

"I'm going to have you in every room of this flat, McKinnon." Amycus tells him in the harshest of whispers.

"What, even the cupboard where we keep our brooms?" He laughs, as he feels his legs being hauled up onto Amycus' shoulders.

"Especially the cupboard where we keep our brooms." Amycus agrees.

And then...

And then he enters him with too little lube, and the pressure is excruciatingly wonderful.


	24. There Must Be An Angel Playing With My Heart (Severus/Mary/Peter)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings for:
> 
> Attempted rape.  
> Coercive behaviours.  
> Victim blaiming.  
> Stalking.
> 
> Also Rory and Amycus appear.

Mudblood!

The word follows him around.

No, not the word so much, but the look on Lily's face as he had said it.

There was always so much talk about 'filthy mudblood this' and 'stinking mudblood that' in the Slytherin common room that the word, the slur had just slipped out.

She'd looked stricken.

He'd played straight into James Potter's hands.

He had tried to get her alone to corner her to beg for her forgiveness on his knees.

But Lily was not a girl easily cornered, and she'd hexed him, HIM!

Now she seems to spend all her time with Potter and his obnoxious gang of idiots, or her friends Marlene McKinnon, Dorcus Meadowes and Mary Macdonald.

He once conceded the three girls to be his friends too, but they'd firmly sided with Lily, especially Dorcus who as a Muggleborn, had taken the slur Mudblood as a personal attack.

He's not sure when the idea had first come into his head, the idea of using Mary as a route to Lily.

Mary is so dense that light practically bends around her, but for all that, and out of the girls he'd been sure that after Lily, she was the one who had actually liked him.

So...

So...

So, he just needed to get her alone and then persuade her to intercede with Lily on his behalf.

Because he does love her.

He is in love with Lily Evans and the thought of living in a world without her is too painful to even imagine.

Even if she doesn't love him back.

Even if she does choose Potter in the end, or any other boy, her friendship means too much to him to lose.

He stops trying with Lily and instead begins to focus on Mary.

Getting Mary Macdonald alone is a mission in of itself, since she never once visits the library and is always in the company of a 'friend'.

She seems to go out of her way to never be alone.

She spends the bulk of her time with Lily and the other girls, but when she's not with them she's plaiting Sirius Black's ridiculous hair, or getting a piggyback down a corridor from James Potter, or playing exploding snap with Remus Lupin, who he's come to believe loses on purpose so she'll hug him.

And then there's Peter Pettigrew.

Mary's boyfriend.

A talentless wizard and utterly spineless 'yes man', who follows Potter and Black around like a dog.

Plus he looks like his head has been stuck in a vice.

He has no idea what she sees in Peter, and yet there they are snogging each other senseless every spare moment.

He almost thought he'd managed to get her alone in one of the empty greenhouses, but no, Peter had turned up, and after that the glass in the greenhouse had gotten increasingly foggy.

Peter has the ability to seemingly pop up out of nowhere, and it dawns on him that he might actually be following Mary around the school as well.

That Peter Pettigrew is so low that he would stalk his own girlfriend.

But he's not alone.

Wherever Mary is Mulciber is never far away.

Mulciber seemingly watches her all of the time, and this at least she seems to be aware of, because whenever he's around she tends to strike up a conversation with the first person she meets until he has given up and gone.

He knows what Mulciber and Barty Crouch JR did to Mary, he'd heard them boasting about it in the common room.

He'd also overheard Narcissa Black, Amycus Carrow and Rory McKinnon discussing the incident one night when everyone else had gone to bed.

The three of them had sat on the green leather sofas.

"It was only a bit of fun, no harm done." Amycus Carrow had said.

"I don't think we should be encouraging attempted rape." Narcissa Black had countered.

"That didn't happen." Rory McKinnon, their ineffectual Head Boy had chimed in.

"I think you're taking things a bit far." Amycus had agreed.

"You weren't there, you didn't see. If I hadn't come along when I did, he was licking her face."

His stomach had turned at that nugget of information.

"I'll keep an eye on them." Rory had attempted to soothe Narcissa.

But in the end she'd swept out of the common room in a huff, and not long after that Amycus and Rory had fallen upon each other, and he'd quickly left.

And so far Rory had failed to keep any sort of eye on anyone other than Amycus.

So he does.

He tries to make sure that whenever Mulciber has his eye on Mary that he's also there, and the one afternoon when it's just the three of them he goes over and talks to her.

"Hello Mary."

"Oh Severus, I didn't see you there." She looks pathetically grateful to see him.

Their conversation is stilted, but they both keep it going until Mulciber finally gets fed up.

"Well, I best be off then." Mary says with a smile, as she starts to leave.

"How is Lily?" He asks without thinking.

"I shouldn't be talking to you about her." She replies uncomfortably.

"Please Mary she's my best friend, I just want her to know how sorry I am. I didn't, I never meant to call her that."

"I know that you didn't." Mary says.

And this does taken him by surprise, because out of everyone, he never would have expected her to understand.

"What James did to you was cruel. But that doesn't mean that Lily,"

"I know, I never should have taken it out on her." He interrupts her by agreeing. 

For the first time in a long time he feels the faint ember of hope kindle inside of him.

Mary rests one hand on the sleeve of his robes.

"I'll let Lily know that you're looking for her."

She is so kind to him, that he considers telling her about her awful rat of a boyfriend, but then he pulls back, and feels as ineffectual as Rory McKinnon must feel every day of his life.

"Thank you, Mary."


	25. To Be Young, Gifted & Black (Dorcus Meadowes)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Firstly I'm coming at this from the perspective of a white, cis gendered, bisexual woman, so I'm not sure if I'm the right person to tackle this, but I've done it now.

The light in the room is pale and makes her tired eyes ache.

She'd hoped that this wouldn't happen, as she'd watched Frank and then James Potter's parents appear in the hospital wing to soothe their son's tortured brow.

But it was when Sirius Black's parents arrived that she new it was only a matter of time before her own Mum and Dad turned up.

Everyone knows that Sirius' parents hate him, or that he hates them, but there they are in the hospital wing looking just as concerned as The Longbottoms and The Potters.

And now here they are.

Her Mum and Dad.

All she has wanted to do is see them, hold them, love them, and now she wishes they were a million miles away, because they make her feel like a liar.

"How could you have kept this from us?" Is her Dad's opening line.

She can hear the fear in his voice.

Her Mum's grip on her slender frame tightens.

She wants to cry.

"I didn't, it's not," She starts to explain, but is cut off.

"You never told us that you wearing living in the middle of a war!" Her Dad roars back.

He's right, she had never told them that, but in her defence, until the moment she had been attacked by that Death Eater she hadn't felt as if she was living in a time of war.

She had her friends.

She had her talent.

And at Hogwarts for the first time in her life no-one had commented on the colour of her skin.

She wasn't Dorcus Meadowes the black girl.

She was Dorcus Meadowes the best in her year at Charms.

Now however she knew what it was like to be a 'mudblood' and it was the same feeling that she felt whenever anyone had made fun of her hair, or her Dad's accent in the Muggle world.

She knows this.

Knows what it's like to be different.

She can still feel the pain of cruciatus curse bubbling away just beneath her skin.

But the memory of the pain can't touch how terrible the thing had been.

And the worst of it was to know that someone she had never met, someone she didn't know had wanted to hurt her so much that they had put all of their energy into successfully performing the spell.

"Your Mother and I have been talking and we've decided that this school isn't right for you." Dad says.

"I never liked the idea of you being at this school." Mum adds.

Dorcus feels her heart rise up into her throat where it begins to beat widely.

"I won't be able to use my magic." She says, but neither of them listen.

There was a time when all she had ever wanted to be was a ballerina.

To be a beautiful white swan or a fairy.

But she'd been the odd one out.

The only black girl in her ballet school, she'd never be a white swan.

Finding her magic had saved her, it had given her a reason, a new talent to improve.

She won't give it up to go back to ballet.

And she certainly won't give it up to go to the local comp.

No-one is going to take her magic away from her, not her parents, not a Death Eater, not a skin head on the tube who told her to go back to where she came from even though she was born in Streatham, not even Lord Voldermort himself.

She is Dorcus Meadowes and she will not be beaten!

The vase of white roses that is sitting so neatly to Madam Pompfrey's desk suddenly shatters.

Her parents jump as shards of glass and water fill the air around them.

"Stop that." Dad tells her.

"Dorcus, please." Mum moans at her side.

"We just want you to be safe." Mum says.

"I know, Mum. I know." She holds Mum's hand in her own.

"But Hogwarts is the safest place for me and I am not going to leave." She tries to sound firm and not petulant, but she's not sure if she pulls it off, especially with the look on Dad's face.

"Dorcus, we are your parents,"

"Please, please let me stay. I promise I won't keep anything else from you." She pleads desperately.

"We don't want anything to happen to you." Mum says.

Dorcus Meadowes makes a promise she doesn't know if she will be able to keep.

"It won't, I promise."


	26. Like A Virgin

The bell above the door gives a little tinkle as Sirius and Remus step inside the tea shop, out of the chill of the February breeze, and hand in hand.

Sirirus is resplendent in his inherited leather jacket, while Remus looks as scruffy as ever in a worn, burgundy coloured jumper and thin tweed jacket.

Remus doesn't consider himself to be poor, but forever caught standing between James Potter and Sirirus Black does give him a forever shabby appearance.

Even Peter is usually better dressed than him, his Mum making a point of always purchasing something new for each term.

Remus stands back and let's Sirirus do the talking, because that works best for them.

"I owled ahead," Sirirus says, as he addresses a middle aged woman, who appears perfectly in keeping with her surroundings.

"...Black, table for two." He continues.

Remus digs his hands into his pockets and let's his eyes drift over the interior of Madam Puddifoots.

He spots some familiar faces.

Elsie Flowers the Gryffidor Keeper, who appears to be on a date with a Ravenclaw, Javid Iqbal.

The Head Boy, Benji Fenwick with his fellow Hufflepuff, Verity Smith.

And at the very back he catches sight of Lily and Dorcus who are giggling away and charming the cupid that is hovering above their heads.

"Ah yes, Regulus." The woman replies from behind a teal coloured desk.

But Remus misses most of what she says as two cupids explode over the heads of the Slytherin prefect, who he still doesn't remember the name of, and her equally sour looking lunch time companion.

Both girls eyes the cupids with distaste.

"Moony," He's brought back into the moment as Sirius elbows him in the waist.

"Reg has only got himself a date, can you believe that?" Sirius throws his head back, and barks out an excited laugh, earning several disapproving glances.

"I'm the other one, Sirius." He clarifies for the moment who is staring down her ornate glasses at them.

She gives them both a quick appraising look, and Remus wonders if she thinks that they are there to make trouble.

Ordinarily, she would be right, but today there is nothing more he wants, than to share a pot of tea and a slice of cake with his boyfriend.

"Follow me, boys." The woman says, as she collects up her menu and leads them between the busy tables.

They find themselves situated in almost exactly the same spot they had been the year before, the only real difference is that now neither of them are oblivious to the fact that they are on a date.

"Hello." Lily and Dorcus both wave at them as they take their seats.

"I'll give you some time to decide what you'd both like." Madam Puddifoot says, before returning to her position behind the counter.

"So, back at the scene of the crime." Sirius' muses with a delighted grin.

"It is a bit grim." Remus muses, as he eyes the extremely frilly decor.

"I'll keep that it mind, well hire this place for our wedding reception." Sirius says as he leans across and takes Remus' hand in his own.

Remus would be lying if he said he wasn't a little surprised by Sirius' suggestion, that he can see their future so clearly.

"We'll of course make Lily wear peach." Sirius catches Lily's eye and winks.

"Don't you dare." She quickly shoots back.

"With one of those flowers crowns." Dorcus joins in with a loud giggle.

Remus would never tell Dorcus this to her face, but he really has missed the sound of her laugh, which seems to have been absent from the Gryffindor Common Room for months.

"Stop encouraging him." Remus says.

"It doesn't take much." Lily agrees with a sage nod of her head.

Sirius shifts in his chair before leaning forward and saying.

"Moony, is well aware of that."

Which causes Remus' face to turn bright red, and the long line of love bites, which are thankfully hidden by the neck of his jumper, to prickle with heat.

"Oh Merlin, enough." Lily groans in disgust.

While Dorcus practically chokes on her cream horn.

It's then that Peter slides into the seat on the table next to their own.

"Oi, lovebirds." He grins at them.

The tea shop is filled with the sugary perfume of flowers, as Mary appears at their table.

Breathtaking if the first word that enters Remus' head at the sight of her.

As every gaze in the tea shop appears to turn towards her, as she sucks on a lollipop in her glittering, golden dress.

"One of your stars has gone out." Mary says, as she points to Sirius' leather jacket.

"Shit, no, which one?"

Remus' watches them as the pair proceed to fuss over the jacket until Mary turns to Peter and asks for her wand, which he produces from his pocket.

Remus will never let anyone hold onto his wand, not even Sirius, actually from the way Sirius treats his own wand, he would especially never let him keep it.

He's not sure why the idea of Mary letting Peter keep her wand bothers him, but it does.

As he watches her enchant the offending star back into life, he considers lecturing both Mary and Peter on the finer points of wand safety, when the bell above the door rattles violently.

"A threesome with Mulchiber and Crouch, I didn't know Reg had it in him." Sirius observes.

Remus turns in his chair to see the three Slytherin boys standing before the counter, with Regulus standing between them.

Mulchiber is staring directly at them.

Mary drops her wand with a clatter sending a jet of sparks across the room, narrowly avoiding Verity Smith, and disintegrating a teal streamer.

"Watch where you point that thing love." Peter says with an indulgent chuckle.

The bell rings again, and this time Remus, who is still watching the three Slytherins, sees Amy Floss enter, followed by James.

The door closes, while James and Amy stand together.

"No bloody way." He hears Peter say.

"He kept his mouth shut on that." Sirius says.

James Potter is on a date.

James Potter is on a date with someone who isn't the declared love of his life Lily Evans.

The world has changed forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, not sorry.


	27. You Need To Calm Down!

With his towel drapped casually around his neck James bangs open the small wooden door that leads into the dormitory he shares with the other Maurders and Frank.

The first thing he notices is that his three best friends are all ensconced on Sirius' usually empty bed.

He can tell that they are waiting to pounce on him, but at least Remus has the good manners to pretend to be playing with his ridiculously named cat.

Peter is munching away on a box of Valentine's chocolates.

While Sirius is openly starting at him with a grin of mischievous and wide that James can't do anything but laugh.

So he laughs.

He tosses his towel onto his messy bed, stands in the middle of the room and laughs.

"You three are about as subtle as a dragon in a tea shop." He grins, as he joins them, settling himself on the edge of Sirius' bed.

"How big is this dragon, because Peruvian Vipertooth are only about the size of a," Remus begins, but Sirius leans in an quickly cuts him off.

"Is this what you and Wormy are learning about during your Care of Magical Creatures lessons instead of doing potions with James and I?" There's an unmistakable note of jealousy in Sirius' voice.

Which Remus counters with a smirk.

"No Padfoot, we all learned about this in our second year."

Sirius opens his mouth but before he gets a chance to speak, Peter pipes up.

"So, does this mean that you've snogged Moony?" He asks through a mouth full of chocolate.

But James and Remus greet his question with a splutter.

No!

What?

When?

How?

While Sirius barks with laughter.

Peter stares at them mid chew.

"Well, well, well," He stutters.

"...you've both kissed Amy Floss now." Peter shrugs.

At the mention of kissing Amy, Remus' face turns bright red.

Sirius stops laughing, and his handsome face twists into a frown.

"I haven't kissed Amy." James admits.

"We're just friends." He concludes.

"Friends who go to Madam Puddifoot's on Valentine's Day." Sirius says with a frustrated little huff.

"It's not like that," James starts, but he quickly changed tack.

"...alright so maybe it is a bit like that, but I like Amy, she's different."

The other three boys exchange glances.

"I am aware of my stance of Evans, but none of us are getting any younger and Amy is alright." James Potter maybe many things, but articulating his feelings isn't one of them.

He does like Amy, perhaps not in the same way that he feels about Lily, but oh Merlin, he could tie himself up in knots forever.

"So, how long has this been going on?" Sirius asks in a tone of voice that reminds James very much of his Mum.

He feels the heat rise up from his neck, and he imagines he must look as bad as Remus.

He scratches the back of his neck.

"I dunno, we just sort of hit it off in the pub, that time Moony brought her in. I'd never really talked to her before, well I had, but I'd never listened to what she said. Remus, you never said she was funny." James address that last part to Remus, who gives Sirius a cautious glance before replying in a silted voice.

"I, well, she does have a good sense of humour."

"Do you wanna sleep on your own tonight?" Sirius asks.

"Padfoot."

Peter snorts with laughter, and almost chokes on a chocolate.

"That serves you right." Sirius tells him.

With the conversation thankfully turned away from his love life, James jumps on the chance of changing the subject.

"Where did you get that kissing thing from anyway, if that's true then by default you've kissed Gordon Longfellow through Mary." James asks as he leans across and steals a chocolate from Peter's selection box.

Biting into it he finds that it's a butterbeer cream, which just luckily happens to be one of his favourites.

He watches as the tips of Peter's ears turn pink.

"That was just a rumour, Mary never kissed Gordon."

"Humm, well I don't think that's true." Remus says, as he rejoins the conversation.

With his wand he charms one of Peter's chocolates out of it's box, but Sirius snatches it out of mid air and pops it into his mouth with a grin.

"That was sneaky." Remus observes.

"I'm the sneakiest." Sirius agrees.

He turns his head to the side and plants a kiss on Remus' open mouth.

The quick peck on the lips, suddenly becomes more intense.

While his friends snog, James helps himself to another one of Peter's chocolates.

"I think we've lost them." He says to Peter, who looks more and more uncomfortable sitting at the bottom of the bed.

"I want to move." Peter says.

Clutching the chocolate box against his chest he slides off the end of the bed, retreating to his own four poster.

James drags his wand out of his dressing gown pocket and charms the curtains around Sirius' bed closed.

The two occupants are oblivious, and despite the fact that he does like Amy, he can't help thinking about Lily.

Lily Evans has been his constant dream girl for such a long time that it's probably just habit, probably.

Anyway he's determined not to pursue her anymore, because he's just making a fool out of both of them now.

And he genuinely cares about her feelings.

The weirdest thing is that he'd always thought he was in love with Lily, but during the summer after spending some real time together he'd realised that it had been an infatuation.

Now however, now he knows that he's properly, madly, deeply in love with her, and he bloody respects her too much to push things.

Love is strange and cruel and wonderful.

Is this what growing up feels like?

If so then James thinks that he might just be ready.

Just as these thoughts enter his head Frank enters the dormitory.

James holds his breath as the taller, wider boy marchers towards him and his sweat slicked grip tightens on the hilt of his wand, while wondering if he shouldn't just take off his glasses and let Frank punch him.

But then, just as he screws up his eyes and waits for the blow absolutely nothing happens.

He opens one eye and blinks.

Frank's hand is extended towards him, but not in a punch, it looks like a handshake.

James holds out his own hand and Frank takes it within his firm grasp.

They shake hands.

"If Amy has chosen you then I won't get in the way." Frank says mid shake, which makes James feel incredibly bad since less than a minute earlier Amy had been the furthest thing from his mind.


	28. The Sexual Bean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you're still reading thank you.
> 
> Also, thank you.

It's odd.

When James opens his eyes in the morning he feels strangely deflated.

Yawning wide as he fumbles across his cluttered bedside table to find his glasses.

His fingers finding the familiar round frames, he slides them onto the edge of his nose and the gloom of the dormitory suddenly comes into focus.

As he shifts his head against the warmth of his pillow he sees that the curtains of Sirius' four poster are still drawn, and he hears the rumble of Remus' snores from within.

He wonders how Sirius puts up with the noise and then he catches sight of a pair of eyes blinking back at him.

Sirius' head is poking out through the curtains.

James throws back the corner of his blanket and the other boy slides out of his bed and is lying next to him.

They haven't shared a bed in years, and yet it feels so normal it's as if nothing has changed.

"Moony's making a bit of a racket." James says with a lopsided grin.

"Tell me about it, he's got a sinus infection. I don't think I've slept all night." Sirius agrees.

He sees the dark shadows beneath his eyes.

"There's a spell for that you know." James tells him.

"I know. I tried it. I tried all of them, Moony is impervious." Sirius smiles back.

"You don't have to sleep with him, not all the time." James says tentatively.

The other boy shrugs his shoulders.

"Don't tell the others this, Wormtail will only laugh and Moony will start panicking, but I need him, there."

James thinks that he understands.

They hold hands.

"I'm mad for him you know." Sirius says.

"I had noticed." James agrees.

And then he quickly adds.

"This isn't going to effect us getting a flat together after school is it?"

He watches as Sirius' pale cheeks turn pink.

"We'll get a bigger flat, and Moony and I will, well we'll be together so,"

"You haven't, you haven't done it, have you?" James asks in a quick, harsh whisper.

He's always been certain that he would know when his two best friends finally have sex, but now he's not sure.

They seem closer than ever.

Inseparable.

He notices then how quite Sirius is, and that his blush has deepened in colour.

"Padfoot?"

"Not yet, but I, I really, really want to." He says excitedly rolling towards James.

"I don't wanna push him though, you know what Moony is like."

James does and nods in agreement.

"I've been a bit worried that he might not want to, you know, but that's okay, I mean it isn't, I think I'd actually die. But I love him."

James takes a breath.

"From what I've observed," He says in his best impression of Professor Slughorn, which is absolutely rubbish.

"...Moony is a bit of a sexual bean."

"Just talk to him." James continues with a yaw, which starts Sirius off.

They lay together side by side, holding hands and sharing one long yawn.

It doesn't take either of them very long to fall back to sleep.

Neither of them notice that Remus has stopped snoring.


	29. Talking and the Like

"Excellent, exceptional wanking there, I think." Sirius says breathlessly as he collapses into the space next to an equally breathless Remus.

They lay together side by side on the floor of The Astronomy Tower desperately trying to bring their shared breathing back to something approaching normal.

A canopy of glittering diamonds sparkle over them.

"As always Mr Padfoot, thank you for the review." Remus says as he rolls his body towards his friend, and resting one hand beneath his head.

"It's a pleasure, Mr Moony." Sirius grins, rolling into meet him.

Remus runs his thumb over Sirius' perfect cheekbone.

And he can't quite believe that he's allowed to do this, that the most beautiful boy in the school, no the world wants him.

His cheeks flush.

Sirius leans forward and presses his lips against Remus', and suddenly their snogging.

It doesn't take much.

It also doesn't take much for Sirius to end up on top of him, or for Remus to have his hands up and under his jumper.

His fingers roam across his skin.

The temperature in the ice cold tower rises several degrees.

And, and, and...

"No, Padfoot, stop." The words are pulled from his swollen lips.

Sirius' large grey eyes fly open and he pulls back as if suddenly startled.

But for all of this he keeps most of his weight on Remus' body.

"Moony, I'm sorry I just got a bit carried away." Sirius says in a voice that makes him feel as if he's the worst human-being in the world.

Which he probably is.

Remus holds him in place.

"It's not all you, I, I," He struggles to articulate himself, when Sirius is so beautiful.

"IheardyoutalkingtoProngsthismorning." He says in a sudden flurry that leaves him blushing and breathless all over again.

Sirius blinks.

"You, you heard that?" Sirius says after a beat, as he runs his hand through the back of his messy, beautiful hair.

A classic Sirius Black comfort gesture.

Remus raises himself up to capture his lips.

They kiss again, and this time it's languid.

"I do, I do want you." Remus tells him between kisses.

"I can tell." Sirius replies with a smirk.

For the second time Remus stops the action between them, as both his hands come to rest on Sirius' chest.

He feels the rise and fall of his chest.

"I'm not ready." Remus practically frown out each word.

And then he waits for what feels like forever for Sirius to react.

He watches Sirius open his mouth, and then closes it again.

"Right." Sirius says in a tone that sounds as if it's trying very hard to hide his disappointment.

"Padfoot."

"I'm glad that you've told me." And it's Sirius turn to frown out each word.

He feels a wall of tension begin to build between them, and then just like that the boy against him knocks it down with a smile.

"I'm happy to wait, Moony. For as long as you need."

"It won't be that long I,"

"Don't." Sirius stops his mouth with his hand.

Remus' eyes widen with confusion.

"Let's not make promises, let's just enjoy each other. Being with each other. Let's just have FUN."

Beneath Sirius' palm Remus smiles, and the scars across his face crease.

Sirius replaces his hand with the warmth of his lips, and after that there is no more talking only FUN.


End file.
